


Clarity

by MissNMikaelson



Category: The Originals (TV), The Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Angst, Eventual Smut, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-07
Updated: 2019-05-09
Packaged: 2019-08-19 23:28:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 27,809
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16544375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissNMikaelson/pseuds/MissNMikaelson
Summary: She could only deny it for so long...She might have gladly gone on denying it, but Caroline was nothing if not persistent. Now if only she could understand how it happened. It would certainly help if he were to answer his phone.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own TVD or TO

Had her life ever been normal? Had things ever been simple? Had life ever really been good?

The older she got the harder it became to believe. The memories of a happy childhood were shrouded in fog and tainted by adolescent revelation.

She'd been raised by loving parents who were really vampire hunters with a brother who was actually her cousin. Her birth mother had abandoned her days after her birth and all but turned her over to Katherine and in turn Klaus.

She was a doppelganger.

She was a supernatural pawn.

She still had days where she wished Stefan had never found her; that she had died on that bridge. It had tried to claim her life twice now. The first time had been an accident, a cruel twist of fate that had taken her parents, but the second time the bridge had a little help from Rebekah Mikaelson.

If not for the blonde's brother she would most definitely have drowned. It was the only time he had done the exact opposite of what she had asked.

Luckily there had been another Original brother under the water that night. She hadn't realized it until she was coughing up water and caught a glimpse of strong arms holding Matt steady as he regained his breath.

If it hadn't been for him she would have died. She would not have spent the night in his warm embrace, probably not anyway, and she wouldn't be in the position she was now.

It had been ten weeks since he had held her in his arms. Seven weeks since he had left Mystic Falls. Six weeks of firm denial, and three days since Caroline had dragged her into the office.

She couldn't deny it anymore. The proof was in the pudding, or rather: the proof was in her hand, before her eyes and beneath her palm.

She couldn't lie and tell herself she had been overeating; for the past few weeks she'd done well to keep solid food down, and the paper between her fingers meant she couldn't claim it was a result of the flu.

Her calls had not been going through for the past three days; the moon was rising when she reached for her phone again. Scrolling through her contacts she selected the blank icon and pressed call; she counted the hollow echo of each long ring.

The call connected on the third ring.

_"Hello darling. I haven't heard from you in months."_

She was a doppelganger.

"I need to talk to you."

She was a supernatural pawn.

_"I'm listening."_

It was impossible; he was immortal.

"In person."

She was going to be a mother.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO.

For as long as she could remember she had wanted the normal things in life: go to school, grow up, get a job, fall in love, get married and have kids. Like most people she wanted to do things in order; she had wanted her life to follow a specific path.

She had never wanted to become embroiled in the supernatural world. She'd held no desire to be involved in vampire business, but it seemed these things had been decided before she was born.

The only good thing about Klaus finding her alive had been the promise of a mundane human life, or as ordinary as it could be for her; she hadn't had the heart at the time to tell Damon and Stefan that was what she wanted.

They wouldn't have listened to her anyway. Only one person ever had.

* * *

_"What is it you really want?"_

_His fingers gently grazed her heated skin with each upward pass of his hand sending jolts of electricity straight to her core. She was mentally exhausted. She was physically worn out, but the combination of his rumbling voice and dextrous fingers was enough to rouse her spirits and make her heart pound._

_What did she want? He had asked her that question earlier. Her response had been to capture his enticing lips in a bruising kiss and tear his wet clothes from his sinful body; in that moment she had taken what she wanted in the moment, but she knew his question ran deeper now that they laid in a post coital bubble._

_What did she want? What did she crave more than him?_

_"Normalcy," she breathed into the still air, "freedom…" **love**_ **.**

_"I want a life free from any supernatural entity that wants to control me… possess me." She wanted to know that someone wanted her, and not because she was a doppelganger; not for the face she wore._

_She pressed her hand to his heart and counted the steady beat beneath her palm. Tilting her head she stared into his dark eyes._

_"What do you want?"_

_Her question caught him off guard. She could see the surprise and something else flickering in his eyes; it only lasted for a minute before he composed himself._

_"It doesn't matter what I want," his hand cupped her cheek, "my brother will ensure I never get it."_

_"If it's any consolation," she managed a half smile, "your brother will ensure I never get what I want either."_

_"Probably just as well," he sighed. He took her hand from his chest, placed a soft kiss to her wrist and laid her arm over his neck. "In my experience it doesn't matter what anyone wants, as soon as they get it they want something else."_

_"That doesn't stop me from wanting it," she shook her head._

_"It wouldn't," he chuckled._

_"Am I doomed to want what I don't have forever?" Her smile dropped._

_"Of course not," he lifted her chin and met her eyes, "only until you until find that which your heart most desires."_

_"Forever then," she exhaled slowly, "I'll never have that; he'll never allow that." His brother had the power to take him away from her for the rest of her natural life; he had robbed his siblings of centuries without a second thought._

_"I could try distracting you for a while," his smirk didn't quite reach his eyes when he rolled over and pinned her to the bed._

_She tipped her neck back to give him unrestricted access to her throat and melted into his embrace._

_Her distraction would be momentary. It would be fleeting, but she would take even the smallest taste of her deepest desire; even if it only increased her melancholy._

_Which was worse: wanting what she couldn't have, or being granted a forbidden taste?_

* * *

She had lied to him. It was only half-true what she had said: 'a life free of vampires'. Maybe the knowledge that on some level it was probably true had kept her heart steady. Maybe it hadn't been at all and he had attributed the thumping organ to his proximity. Maybe he even knew. He might have discerned the lie and refrained from calling her out on something so personal.

Whatever the reason was it didn't matter. He had listened to her words. He had left town. He had left her; left her behind in the care of his brother's hybrids so she might have a semi-normal life, but now she needed him back.

She needed answers. She needed him to know the truth. She didn't necessarily need him, she could have done it on her own, but she wanted him.

She didn't want to lie to herself anymore.

"Yoo-hoo," Caroline waved her hand in front of Elena's face. "Earth to Elena. Come back to reality, Preggers."

"So glad we're joking about this now," Elena flattened her palm to her swollen stomach. The bump was on full display in the tight blue tank.

"Could've been worse," Caroline's eyes glittered. "I could've called you a vamp tramp."

"Vamp tramp?" Elena tried to look angry but the blonde's teasing smile was succeeding in raising her spirits marginally.

"Yeah," Caroline crossed her arms and leaned against the dishwasher. "Weren't you 'with' Stefan at the time?"

"I was not 'with' Stefan," Elena copied her friend's air quotes, "and I wasn't with Damon. I wasn't with anybody."

"Vamp tramp doesn't quite fit then," Caroline sighed.

"Not quite," Elena shook her head, "hang on to it though; it's catchy." Her hand made slow circles over her belly. "I feel like such an idiot, Care."

"You're not one," Caroline crossed her arms again. "You were working with the knowledge you had at the time."

"Look at me," Elena hissed. She hopped down from the stool and gestured to her stomach. "How did I not see it? How did I not believe you?" Tears welled in her eyes. "I'm an idiot! I'm a dumb, blind slut!"

"Hey," Caroline took Elena's hands and forced the brunette to meet her eyes. "Don't you ever say that about yourself again, Elena Gilbert! You are one of the smartest people I know. You had no reason to believe it was possible; that doesn't make you stupid. It makes you rational."

A knock sounded on the door. The quick rap echoed through the long hall to the door. Caroline turned towards the front of the house.

"That must be him," she released Elena's hands. "I'll get the door."

"No," Elena shook her head, "I'll do it. Better to get the shock out of the way first."

She swiped at her tears and drew in heaping breaths on her path to the entry. Her eyes grew round when she pulled the door open and saw her evening company.

"Stefan?" Her eyes darted to his brother. "Damon? What are you two doing here?"

Damon crossed his arms and rolled his eyes as if the answer should have been obvious to her.

"We came to check on you," Stefan verbalized his brother's thoughts. "We haven't heard from you in days, and we haven't seen you in nearly a month."

"And now I see why?" Damon's eyes fell to her midriff. "Hiding the fact that you were cheating on Saint Stefan here?" He patted his little brother's shoulder.

"We're not together Damon," Elena crossed her arms and glared at the blue eyed vampire. "We haven't been together since he left with Klaus, and we will not be getting back together."

"Obviously," Damon scoffed. "So whose is it?"

"That's none of our business Damon," Stefan caught his brother's arm. Damon had been about to take an intimidating step closer to Elena.

"He's right," Elena agreed, "it's not. It's my business, and his business, and since I haven't even told him yet I will most definitely not be telling you."

"How far along are you?" Stefan rolled his eyes.

"Twelve weeks," Elena swallowed and placed her hand on her bump.

Stefan's eyes narrowed in confusion. "That would have been before the accident."

"That was not an accident," Elena's eyes hardened, "Rebekah deliberately sent Matt and I off the bridge. And it wasn't before."

"Pregnancy takes the weeks from conception and adds two on for ovulation," Caroline took Elena's elbow and pulled her back into the house.

"That's the week of the accident then, darling? What precisely happened that week? I've only just arrived."

Stefan and Damon spun on their heels and gaped at the Original vampire climbing Elena's porch steps. He paused at the stop with his hands in his pockets and allowed his eyes to flicker over the assembly with curiosity. He could just make out Elena where she was positioned in the house behind her 'guard dogs'.

"What are you doing here?" Damon snarled.

"I was invited," he cocked a heavy brow. "Judging by the look on Elena's face you were not."

"No," Elena's voice had suddenly grown timid, "they weren't." Her mouth was dry when she looked at him, and she couldn't maintain eye contact for more than a few seconds.

"Then perhaps they should leave," his eyes flickered from Stefan to Damon; neither brother moved.

"Perhaps I'm not making myself clear," he stepped forward and smiled sweetly; something dark passed through his eyes, "this is a threat." Stepping back he held out his hand to clear a path. "Leave… now."

Damon looked for a moment as if he wanted to stay and cause a fight; he never did have much sense. He was the sort to jump in first and ask questions third. Luckily Stefan was the opposite; most of the time. The younger Salvatore took the initiative, and his brother's elbow.

Elena watched from the door as her ex-boyfriend pulled his hot-headed brother towards the car.

"So…"

She turned her gaze to him and found he was staring at her stomach.

"It appears congratulations are in order," he smirked. The light didn't quite reach his eyes. "But the question of why I am here remains to be answered."

"It's a long story," she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, "one that will be better told over a steaming cup of tea, I've got something stronger if you'd like."

"And why is Miss Forbes here?"

"Moral support," Caroline smirked. "And to make sure she doesn't chicken out."

"I'm not going to chicken out," Elena rolled her eyes.

"You called me to town for story hour?" He leaned against the door frame and watched the bickering friends.

"I called you to town for your help," Elena clarified, "maybe answers, but primarily your help." She stepped to the side of the door. "Why don't you come in, Kol?"

She saw the genuine surprise flicker in his gaze. He hesitated before stepping over her threshold and following her into the kitchen.


	3. Chapter 3

Kol took a seat at her dining room table. His long fingers curled around the steaming mug of tea as his curious eyes took in the many pictures and paintings lining the walls; they were images that created the illusion of the perfect family: completely ordinary.

"I believe you mentioned a long story, darling," he tapped the grey ceramic mug.

"Long…" Elena nodded, "… short… confusing…"

"Get to the point, love," he leaned forward when her eyes clouded over.

Elena swallowed. She lifted her tea and took a sip while considering her words. How to go about saying it?

"I'm pregnant…"

"I got that bit, darling," his eyes darted to her stomach, "it's rather hard to miss, and if I understand correctly it happened the week of the accident."

Elena took a deep breath. Over the past few weeks she had been ready to cry at the drop of a hat and she hadn't known why. She understood now that it was her hormones, but knowing didn't keep the tears from welling in her eyes.

"I shouldn't be pregnant," she shook her head and blinked back the moisture. She cried when she was confused.

"I'm no expert on the subject," Kol passed her the box of tissues that had been sitting on the table, "but I'm given to understand there is no foolproof form of contraception."

"Sleeping with vampires is usually considered foolproof," Caroline smirked around her mug.

Elena dropped her head onto the table and groaned; she didn't see the way Kol's eyes grew round.

"Please don't tell me you slept with Nik," he looked from Elena to Caroline, "I honestly thought you had higher standards than that."

Elena's head snapped back up. Angry tears welled in her eyes.

"Why would you assume that?" Her voice was at a decibel that a human would have never heard, but both of her companions made out each word clearly.

"You didn't sleep with Nik?" He cleared his throat and leaned back in his chair.

"No," Elena slammed her hands down on the table, "I didn't sleep with Klaus!" Her movement sent her mug falling to the floor. It shattered and sent tea spraying across the hardwood.

There were a series of quick steps in the hall before Jeremy came around the corner. His eyes took in the assembly around his table and the dark liquid running down the kitchen counter.

"What happened?" His eyes darted to Kol. "I thought you had better taste than that."

"And here I thought we were mates," Kol rolled his eyes.

"Elena," Caroline started picking up the pieces of broken glass, "you'd better get to the point."

Jeremy grabbed a roll of paper towel from the cabinet and knelt beside the blonde.

Elena took a deep breath and swallowed the lump in her throat.

"Do you remember the night the car went off the bridge?" She met Kol's dark eyes.

"Of course," he nodded. "Matt refused vampire blood so I took him to the hospital, and he took you home."

"He stayed," Elena nodded slowly and bit her bottom lip, "he spent the night."

"Elijah?" Kol's brows shot up. His eyes darted to her stomach again.

"Yeah," she crossed her arms over her bump, "which is why I'm very confused because vampires can't have kids."

"Well…" Kol frowned.

"They can't have kids," Elena shook her head.

"Unless you're lying to me, Elena," his eyes lifted to her face, "then you are living proof that they can."

"Why would I lie about this?" She could tell by the way his eyes darted to her chest that he was listening to her heartbeat. "Why would I want to physically tie myself to Klaus Mikaelson of all people, because this pregnancy does link me to the entire family?"

"You slept with Elijah?" Jeremy discarded the used paper towel. "How did I not know this?"

Elena shrugged. "You were down the hall; sound asleep when we got here, and he left before you woke up. And my sex life is not something I typically talk to you about. I didn't even tell Caroline until the ultrasound."

"What's an ultrasound?" A line appeared between Kol's brows.

Elena pulled a small piece of paper from her pocket and slid it across the table towards him. She watched him tilt his head and examine the black and white image.

"What am I looking at?"

"An internal view of her uterus," Caroline reclaimed her seat at the table.

"Technology has come a long way," Elena tucked her hair behind her ear.

"This is the baby?" Kol looked up from the squiggly lines.

"Babies," Caroline corrected. She reached out and pointed to the two distinct circles in the otherwise indistinguishable sea of black.

"When Elijah does anything he usually gives it his all," Kol shook his head.

"Is that the only reaction I'm going to get?" Elena could feel her anger rising again. Any moment she feared tears would spill down her cheeks. "Do you know how this could have happened?"

Kol put the picture down and sighed.

"I've never seen it, before," inhaling he met her dark eyes, "I've heard rumors before; never did tell my brothers about them."

"Why not?" Elena's shoulders stiffened.

"I could never substantiate them," he tapped the table. "There have been two instances over the past thousand years or such pregnancies. Each time I heard I went to investigate, but by the time I would reach the mothers they had lost the children."

Elena paled instantly and swayed in her seat. Jeremy caught her before she could fall over.

"Not for any health reason," Kol hurried to put her mind at ease. "Both women were known in the supernatural worlds, one was a witch and one was a traveller; I never did learn about the fathers. Both women assumed their families would help them understand what had happened, but…"

"They didn't," Elena guessed. "What happened?"

"Understand I only heard about this after the act," he leaned forward across the table. "The witch's family protected nature and believed her child would destroy it, so they destroyed the baby. The traveller's family believed the same. Both children were never born, and the mothers killed themselves before I could question them."

Elena's hand came up to cover her mouth. Her stomach twisted causing bile to rise in her throat. It was possible, and he hadn't known.

Kol watched her pale features for a moment before shaking his head.

"Do you have any idea the family you're now tied to?" He met Elena's flashing gaze. "You should have run."

"I'm under hybrid guard," she shook her head.

"Un-sired hybrid guard," Kol corrected. "Three of the six watching you have broken their bond. You could have gotten far away before Nik even heard about it."

"Klaus obviously doesn't know," Elena's eyes narrowed as she tilted her head to the left. Had Elijah known? Had he expected her to take off? If he had known he had given her the perfect opportunity to run.

"Nik's oblivious," Kol chuckled. "I have a question for you." He waited for her nod. "Why didn't you tell Elijah? Why me?"

"He's not…" she pressed her lips together and inhaled through her nose. "He's not answering his phone. I've been trying to get in touch with him for days."

She blinked at the surprise she saw flickering in his eyes.

"He's not answering you? You?" Kol put extra emphasis on the last word.

It was one thing for Elijah to ignore his calls, and the calls of Rebekah, but another to ignore her. He was attempting to pull his siblings into the mess Klaus had created, and they were resisting. Kol however had seen the way Elijah interacted with Elena; he suspected he knew what they were to each other, and he knew his brother would never ignore this woman's calls.

"No," she shook her head. "What's going on Kol? You look nervous."

"He went to New Orleans," Kol reached for his cell phone, "to help Nik. I haven't heard from him in weeks."

He pressed the device to his ear and counted the rings until he reached the voicemail box. The recorded voice told him it was full. Hanging up he called another number; this one connected on the third ring.

"Nik," he saw the surprise in Elena's eyes, "you haven't heard from Elijah by any chance?" He swapped the call to speaker for the benefit of the Gilberts.

 _"Haven't seen him in weeks,"_ Klaus' voice sounded smug,  _"perhaps he taken an extended holiday."_

Kol ended the call before Klaus could say anything else.

"Something's wrong," Elena pressed her hand to her abdomen.

"Something is most definitely wrong," Kol nodded. He pushed back from the table and tucked his phone into his pocket. "I'll run down and find out about it. In the meantime sit tight."

"Sit tight?" Elena called after him. She was on her feet a moment later following him outside. She had the sense that he was in trouble. "I'm not going to sit tight."

"What else are you going to do?" Kol smirked. He opened his car door and slid inside. Turning over the engine he put the car in drive and prepared to take off in search of his brother.

"Elena," Caroline shrieked from the porch.

Kol slammed on his breaks when he found the pregnant brunette had moved to stand in front of his car with her arms crossed over her chest.

"Get out of the way, Elena," he gripped the steering wheel.

"No," her eyes narrowed into a glare. "He's in trouble. I can it in your eyes Kol; you know it too. I won't 'sit tight' and wait for news that might never come."

His grip on the wheel tightened until his knuckles turned white. He could have compelled her out of the way; she wouldn't have been drinking vervain because of the baby, but he highly doubted Caroline and Jeremy were free of the substance and they could have easily helped her follow after him. The thought of running her over was the farthest thing from his mind; Elijah would have killed him, not to mention whatever Klaus would have done.

With an exasperated sigh he put the car in park and opened his door with almost enough force to tear it from the hinges.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO

"New Orleans?" Elena's hand settled over her stomach. There was a sickening feeling deep in her body that said finding Elijah wouldn't be easy; New Orleans was not a small city.

"Nik's settled down here for the time being," Kol steered his car through the crowded streets, "and Elijah followed him. Apparently he's made quite the mess."

Caroline shifted so she was in the middle of the back seat, leaned forward and peered through the windshield. She couldn't count the number of people on the sidewalk; moving along the slab of concrete would have been impossible. She turned her attention from the street to Kol.

"Why's Klaus settled down here?" Caroline tilted her head. From the corner of her eyes she saw someone take a second look at the car.

"And why did you think I'd slept with Klaus?" Elena spun around to look at him. She hadn't asked yet; she had been preoccupied with her own thoughts; in fact she'd barely said anything during the entire ride down.

Kol steered the car out of town and chuckled.

"Would you believe both questions have the same answer?"

Elena tilted her head and frowned at Caroline.

Kol inhaled slowly before explaining how his hybrid brother had gotten a werewolf girl pregnant. His werewolf half meant he was capable of fathering children.

"Too bad that doesn't explain how I got pregnant," Elena sighed.

"I'm thinking your explanation will be far more complicated," Kol nodded.  _And incredibly simple._

Elena settled back into her seat and closed her eyes. Her hand made slow circles over her abdomen as her head began to swim.

"I'm gonna be honest, Kol," Elena pressed her lips together; "I don't think I really care how right now. I just want him to know, and I want to know he's alright."

"Try to calm down, Elena," Caroline leaned back, "I can hear your heart going a mile a minute."

"How am I supposed to calm down?" Elena gritted her teeth. "Something's wrong, Care. I can feel it."

Caroline gave Kol a pointed look in the rear view mirror. She cocked an eyebrow as her eyes darted to Elena.

"I don't know what you expect me to say, Caroline," he sighed, "she's right something is wrong. Elijah would never ignore her calls."

"Thank you, Kol," Elena crossed her arms.

"Don't look so smug," he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. "Caroline is correct as well: you need to calm down. Stress is definitely not good for your babies."

"Since when are you an expert on pregnancy?" Elena arched an eyebrow.

"I'm not," Kol smirked, "but stress isn't good for anyone; I would imagine it's worse for you. Try taking some deep breaths."

"And if that doesn't work?" Elena took a deep breath in and exhaled slowly.

"Well," Kol counted the slowing beats of her heart, "if it comes down to it I can compel you to calm down."

"I really hate compulsion," Elena took another deep breath and exhaled.

"Then focus on your breathing," Kol turned onto a winding driveway.

* * *

"Elijah," Rebekah kicked her car door, "if not answering your phone is part of your clever plan to get me back in this city then well done, I'm here."

She stomped across the yard and up the steps; her heels clicked loudly on the wooden boards. She hadn't heard from her big brother in months, and she was officially worried.

"Now pick up your phone before I kick your bloody door in." She ended the call with more force than was necessary causing the screen to crack beneath her thumb.

She wasn't about to actually kick the 'bloody door' in though. There was only one weapon in the world that could cause her brother lasting harm, and it was safely in the custody of her other brother who was far from New Orleans; he had sworn never to come back.

Since there was no immediate danger, there wasn't a need to ruin her new shoes, but she did throw open the door so it crashed against the wall. Certainly her brother had earned a little property damage for not returning her calls.

"Elijah?" She called into the house and peered through the door into the sitting room. Her head snapped around when she heard approaching footsteps.

"Oh," she spared the brunette a curt nod, "you must be the maid. My bags are in the car," she masked her sneer when she looked at the other girl's blouse, "get them won't you?"

The brunette scoffed and lowered the fire poker, but she didn't let go of it.

"Hello," she looked Rebekah up and down, "not the maid."

Rebekah turned from the crunch of tires in the driveway and scrutinized the brunette. Sniffing the air daintily she felt her eyes widen in realization; they darted to the woman's midriff.

"You're that werewolf girl my brother knocked up," her lips lifted in a slight smirk. "I was expecting some sort of miracle baby bump," her eyes lifted to Hayley's. "I guess you're not showing yet."

"I can provide that," an amused voice drawled from behind her.

Rebekah had heard the sound of feet coming up the porch, but she had assumed it was Klaus. The last person she had expected to see was Kol. Actually… scratch that… the last person she had expected to see was Elena Gilbert. Caroline Forbes fell somewhere in between.

"Hayley," Kol pointed to the girl on the stairs, "right?"

"Yeah," Hayley looked the newcomer up and down, "and you are?"

She recognized the women that had entered with him. The blonde was Tyler's ex-girlfriend, Hayley was only partially responsible for their breakup, and the other was Elena freaking Gilbert; everything in Mystic Falls revolved around the self-righteous brunette.

She didn't recognize him though; as far as Hayley was aware she had never met him, but he did look a bit like Elijah; he looked a lot like Elijah.

"This is Kol," Rebekah crossed her arms. "What the bloody hell are you doing here?"

"Apparently showing you the miracle baby bump," Kol smirked. His eyes darted pointedly to Elena.

Rebekah followed his gaze and felt her mouth pop open when she saw the swell of Elena's stomach. Her eyes lifted to the doppelganger's face.

"You slept with Nik, too," she shook her head. She had honestly thought her brother had better taste than that.

"Why does everyone just assume I slept with Klaus?" Elena rolled her eyes. Her hand came up to massage a sore spot below her breast. She blushed furiously when the pressure released in a silent burp.

"You know," Kol smirked, "they say when a pregnant woman burps like that for extended periods of time," his eyes glittered when he referenced the car ride, "that she's having an evil baby."

Elena's eyes grew round.

"I'm pretty sure it's also a sign of twins," Caroline gave him a pointed look.

"Evil twins," Kol chuckled and backed up a bit. He just made it out of Elena's range of motion.

Rebekah watched the exchange with narrow eyes before turning the conversation back to the subject at hand.

"If you didn't sleep with Nik then why is it a miracle baby bump?"

Before Elena could answer her eyes were drawn to the base of the stairs by Hayley. The brunette had come to the bottom and cleared her throat loudly; annoyance flashed in her eyes.

"The two of you have your brother's manners," she glared at Kol and Rebekah. They hadn't been there more than five minutes and already they were ignoring her in favour of Elena. Who cared if the doppelganger was pregnant? She was the one carrying the miracle baby; they should have been paying more attention to her.

"If you're talking about Nik, then I am deeply offended," Kol held his hand over his heart. He gasped dramatically causing Elena to release a small giggle. "However, if you're referring to Elijah then I'm flattered."

"I'm somewhere in between," Rebekah gave Hayley a sweet smile, "but I assure you I do have Nik's temper, so watch your step." She tipped her chin towards Elena. "She'll attest to that. If not for Elijah and Kol she'd be dead right now."

"And all because of your temper, sister dear," Kol's voice held an air of innocence. He returned his attention to Hayley. "Speaking of Elijah; where is he?"

"Beats me," Hayley shrugged. "He's long gone."

"What do you mean long gone?" Elena's heart clenched painfully. The blood drained from her face, she swayed under the onslaught of her emotions; she'd already been feeling light headed.

Caroline reached out and caught her friend. She steadied the unsteady brunette and squeezed her arm gently to let her know everything was going to be alright; even though she was struggling to believe it herself.

Hayley's eyes shifted from one face to the next. The Original siblings looked sceptical. Elena appeared to be heartbroken and on the verge of losing control of her emotions; fear was flashing in her eyes. Caroline had the look of a supportive best friend, but why she was being supportive Hayley didn't know.

"I don't know," Hayley shrugged. "One minute he was here making epic promises about protecting me in this predicament that a bottle of scotch and some bad decisions got me into – he was actually being really poetic about how we're family now – and then Klaus told me he bailed. I guess that's what I get for trusting a vampire."

_A bottle of scotch and bad decisions,_  Caroline's eyes followed her ears to Hayley's stomach. She could easily hear the fluttering heartbeat of an unborn child. From the way the brunette spoke it sounded like she regretted her 'predicament'.

Elena might have been confused and upset, but she had made it clear from her actions that she didn't regret her pregnancy; a few hours before Kol had arrived at the house Caroline had found Elena in the attic running her fingers gently over a cream coloured baby blanket with a soft smile. Caroline had packed that blanket when her friend wasn't looking. Elena had always wanted kids; her only hesitation had been: knowing that eventually another doppelganger would come along.

How long ago were those 'bad decisions' made? Kol had made it sound like the deed had occurred in the weeks prior to Elena's accident, so shouldn't Hayley have been showing as well. Then again, Elena was having twins, and Hayley was wearing a trapeze top.

"Elijah's not just any vampire," Rebekah crossed her arms. Her sigh was exasperated; she hated it when people made her brother out to be anything less than what he was.

"He doesn't break promises," Elena took a few deep breaths. Slowly her head began to clear and her feet steadied beneath her. "I'm okay now, Care."

Rebekah nodded in agreement. She never thought that she would be on the same page as the doppelganger, but she found herself nodding along; if nothing else, Elena understood her oldest living brother.

"She's right," Rebekah saw the surprise flicker over Elena's face, "he doesn't break his promises. That leads me to believe that Nik has done something dastardly and Klaus-like."

"Klaus!" The blonde Original gritted her teeth and stomped through the entry. "Get out here and tell me what you've done with our brother you pathetic, backstabbing wanker!"

Hayley watched Rebekah go and rolled her eyes. It hadn't taken long for the door to pop open; she had thought he was still out, but he must have come in through the kitchen.

"Enough with the shouting," Klaus opened the doors with a flourish. He flashed his siblings a wolfish smirk. His amusement fell when he saw the full crowd in his foyer. He had come in through the back door and had thought he'd heard additional voices.

"Should I be expecting the entirety of Mystic Falls?" Klaus looked between Elena and Caroline. "Shall I be playing host to the Salvatore's as well this evening? You never go anywhere without your guard dogs."

"They're not here," Elena tucked her hair behind her ears. "Stefan and Damon are back in Mystic Falls, and as far as I know they don't know that I've left."

"Do my hybrids?" Klaus cocked an eyebrow. He frowned at Kol; his baby brother had shifted when he'd opened the doors to block the brunette from view.

"I told them you asked me to bring her down," Kol tilted his head. "They didn't question it."

"I'll have to have words with them later," Klaus smirked. "What are you doing here, Elena?" He slowly approached Elena and narrowed his eyes when his brother didn't move.

"You're not going to ask why we're here?" Rebekah scoffed.

"It was inevitable that the two of you would show up at some point," his eyes flashed to Kol, "I certainly hope you've placed it somewhere safe."

"It's far away from you," Kol smiled sweetly.

"Are you going to move, Kol?" Klaus cocked an eyebrow.

Kol glanced over his shoulder to Elena and met her eyes. She had come down to New Orleans to find Elijah, and the fastest way would be to learn what Klaus had done with him, but he wasn't sure he trusted his hybrid brother not to harm Elena.

It was true Klaus wanted her to have kids, but how would he react to knowing her children had been fathered by Elijah?

Elena nodded once and nibbled on her bottom lip. She would have preferred to talk to Elijah first, but if what Hayley had said was true – and if the sense of dread in her gut was anything to go by – then Klaus had 'taken care' of his elder brother.

Hayley rolled her eyes when Kol looked to the brunette for confirmation before moving. Of course Elena had wrapped another vampire around her finger.

Elena pressed her palm to her stomach and inhaled slowly. It took Klaus less than a second to follow the line of her arm to her swollen abdomen; a moment of silence passed where she assumed he was listening to the rapid heartbeats of her unborn children.

"When I said I wanted you to have kids I didn't mean you had to do it right away," he slowly brought his eyes back to her pale face. "Who's the father?"

Caroline crossed her arms, tilted her head and gave him the most serious look she could muster before answering the question in a scathing manner to hide her laughter.

"They're yours," she resisted her urge to smile as he paled.

The blood drained from Klaus' face. How drunk had he been to not remember sleeping with Elena Gilbert? How drunk had he been to even think about sleeping with her? When had he slept with her?

His eyes narrowed when he caught Kol's laughter, and the amusement twinkling in Caroline's eyes. Even Elena and Rebekah were struggling not to laugh at his shell-shocked expression.

"Did you actually believe that?" Elena crossed her arms. "I'd have thought that you would be the only person I wouldn't have to tell that I didn't sleep with you."

"Apparently it's still a miracle baby though," Rebekah returned her attention to Elena, "but that's not important right now; what's important is Elijah. What have you done with him?"

"Why must I have done something?"

"He's not answering his phone," Kol held up his own as evidence.

"So, he's ignored the two of you before."

"But he would never ignore Elena," Kol blinked slowly and met Klaus' eyes. "You know he would never ignore her."

"Why is she trying to talk to Elijah anyway?" Hayley rolled her eyes.

"Because the babies are his," Elena met the werewolf's eyes. She saw Kol shift in her peripheral vision.

"That's impossible," Rebekah scoffed.

"No," Kol caught her gaze. "It's improbable, but not impossible. Elena is the third incident of a vampire pregnancy."

"She's lying," Rebekah shook her head and sneered. "Elijah's got better taste than that."

"Why would I lie, Rebekah?" Elena sighed. She closed her eyes and took in a series of shallow breaths to combat a wave of nausea; she had thought the morning sickness was passing, but it appeared to be coming back. "Why would I want to be tied to this family?"

Kol looked at his sister expectantly. He could see her mind working as she opened and closed her mouth several times fumbling for an excuse; for a reason why Elena would lie to them. He saw the moment she came up with nothing.

"There's a spell that identifies the mother and father of an unborn child," Kol nodded to Elena after a pause, "but I believe her."

* * *

Klaus poured out several glasses of scotch and passed them to his siblings and Caroline. Personally he didn't care if Elena was lying or not. She was still pregnant and her children would further her bloodline; part of him hoped she was. He wanted to believe there was no truth in her claims so he wouldn't have to fight Elijah down the line. He shuddered to think what Elijah would do to protect his own child after the lengths his brother had gone to for Hayley.

His eyes flickered from Kol to Rebekah.

"I'm assuming one of you had something to do with the dead vampires," he regarded them with disinterest.

"They were rather rude," Rebekah sipped her drink, "trying to take advantage of a poor girl just trying to find her way to the Quarter." She tilted her head and smirked. "I'm so sorry were they friends of yours? Oh…" she blinked innocently, "… that's right. You don't have any friends."

Klaus chose to smirk when his younger siblings shared a laugh at his expense. Their mirth would be short lived.

"I do have friends," he lifted his glass. "I have Marcel," Klaus took a small step towards his sister and looked down into her eyes. "You remember Marcel, don't you?"

The colour shifted in Rebekah's cheeks.

"Of course you do," Klaus smirked.

Elena leaned forward on the couch. The last thing she had wanted when she came to New Orleans was to find herself in the company of Klaus, but it seemed that it was inevitable. She was tied to him now. She was tied to all of them.

"Who's Marcel?" Elena's eyes darted to Rebekah.  _What kind of trouble has he gotten into?_

"He fancies himself King of the Quarter." Klaus turned his attention to Elena. He would have preferred she and Caroline were not present for the family reunion, but it appeared the brunette had won over Kol and he was not in the mood to pick a fight with his brother; one never knew when Kol would go off the rails, and while Klaus could take him in a fight he preferred not to at the moment.

There were few people in the world that made Klaus nervous, but Kol managed it; he was unpredictable and often angry with him for all of the times Klaus had locked him in a box.

"Marcel has all of these rules about killing vampires," his eyes flashed back to Rebekah, "It'll be interesting to see what sort of punishment he comes up with for you."

Rebekah's glare would have melted ice and then started a small fire.

"I don't give a rat's ass about Marcel, and I'm certainly not afraid of him."

"Where is Elijah, Klaus?" Elena stood from the couch. She resisted the urge to step back when he moved towards her.

Klaus paused a few inches from her and rolled his eyes. He could easily hear the low growls coming from Kol and Caroline; the one from Rebekah surprised him though.

He tilted his head and met Elena's eyes. "Perhaps he's taking an extended holiday," he quirked an eyebrow, "or a long autumn nap upstairs."

"You're welcome to look around," he held out his hand. "Kol and Rebekah know the house well; I'm certain they'll help you."

He placed his empty glass on the coffee table and headed towards the door after checking his phone.

"Where are you going?" Caroline called after him with narrow eyes.

"My night isn't over," Klaus held up his phone, "I'm off for a drink with Marcel."

Caroline saw the message from her spot near Elena; she read the text upside down.

"Yes," Rebekah scoffed. "Elijah told me about your plan to take apart Marcel's empire piece by piece. He didn't mention that it involved the two of you drinking New Orleans dry."

Klaus paused in the door and turned back to his sister with a cruel smirk.

"I know you don't have many friends Rebekah, but what some friends do when they get together is drink. And when they drink, they tell secrets." Klaus tilted his head and smiled in the face of her glare. "He has somehow found a way to control all of the witches in the Quarter, and I aim to find out how so I might take it for myself. Terribly sorry if finding Elijah didn't make my to-do list tonight."

Rebekah glared when he disappeared from the house.

"Right then," Kol lowered his glass, "you want to follow Nik, or search the house? One of us should keep an eye on him."

"And have him turn on us?" Rebekah arched an eyebrow. "I don't care about Nik. I came down here to find Elijah, and that's what I'm going to do." She turned her attention to the stairs where Hayley was sitting. "And the wolf girl is going to help me."

"So am I," Elena stepped out into the hall.

"Why don't you all look?" Caroline zippered her jacket and nodded to the others. "I've always wanted to see New Orleans," her lips lifted in a smirk, "and they say the best time is at night."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got longer than I thought it would. That might happen more now that she's in New Orleans.
> 
> Personally I don't like Hayley, I love Phoebe Tonkin and I think she's an amazing actress but I never liked Hayley. I've tried making her likable in some of my other stories, but in this one I decided not to do that.
> 
> Anyway, let me know what you think of my story so far.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO.
> 
> Sorry for the delay in updating this one y'all. I got busy on other stories, but I'm gonna try to get back on a schedule for my updates and which stories I work on, so ideally I'll update at least one story every day or so. The chapter for this one got a little long so I've split it in two pieces.

Elena ran her fingers along the railing and took slow steps up the narrow stairs leading to an attic. Plucking at the hem of her camisole she lifted her eyes from her feet to the landing.

"Do you think he's really in the house?"

Kol glanced back over his shoulder, twisting the antique doorknob he contemplated lying to her, but the nervous set of her mouth kept the reassuring words from leaving his lips. He heard her heart, pounding a little faster after the climb, stutter when he shook his head.

"I don't think so," pushing open the door he led her inside, "but I'm not leaving any stone unturned."

She ran a hand through her heavy hair, lifting the dark locks from her neck in an attempt to ease the tension headache forming; she could feel the pull at the roots of every silken strand. The added thickness was not helping.

"Alright, darling?" He flipped on the flashlight on his phone, more for her benefit than his.

"I'm fine," she blew out a slow rush of air. Her eyes flickered from one corner of the room to the next; it was the standard attic found in many older homes. Boxes were pushed into the far corners of the room up against every wall, a couple of end tables littered the floor, and a sheet was draped over what looked like a chaise, but there was no sign of Elijah so Elena was confused when Kol started moving further into the room.

"What are you doing?"

"Moving some boxes," he pulled cardboard boxes from the wall, clearing a space in front of the paneling. "I didn't spend as much time in this house as Bex, but I do know there is a hidden room behind this wall."

Nodding she stepped forward and extended her arms to take hold of the bottom corners of the next box in the pile.

"What the bloody hell do you think you're doing?" He took her hands and pinned them to her sides.

"I'm helping," she shook off his light grip and reached again.

"You shouldn't be lifting…"

"I am pregnant," she crossed her arms and glared, "not incompetent, and I am fully capable of lifting a few boxes."

He tilted his head and cocked an eyebrow before turning around and flipping open the lid of the box she had been getting ready to lift.

"Almost every box in this attic contains either a dozen books, or some obscure artifact from an even more obscure dynasty," he closed the lid again and lifted the box. "Every box is somewhere between thirty and fifty pounds, so yes you might be capable of lifting a few boxes, but it will not be these ones."

She took a step back and sighed, watching him pull a dozen boxes into the center of the room; the final one sent up a cloud of dust that made her sneeze.

She couldn't see the door until Kol pushed a panel of wood and it sprang back towards him. The few seconds it took for him to pull open the door and shine his flashlight inside seemed to last for an eternity.

Disappointment sagged through her. Even after Kol had admitted to not believing his brother would be in the house she had still held out hope that they would find a mahogany coffin in the hidden space that didn't look much bigger than a coffin.

Tears welled up in her eyes.

"Darling?" Kol slammed the door shut. He reached a tentative hand for her trembling shoulder.

"I… I…" She swallowed back her despair and shook her head. "I'm good."

Kol's eyes narrowed. There was a quiet determination in her gaze and the set of her jaw. She was not alright, nobody in her position would be, but she would keep going and save her sorrow for behind a closed door where none would see the grief. She had cried in front of him, angry tears, confused tears, tears brought on by the hormonal fluctuations in her changing body, but he knew she wouldn't allow herself to be truly vulnerable with him; they weren't close enough for her to feel that comfortable yet. He doubted she would have broken down with Caroline either.

He tilted his head to the right and lowered his hand.

"I can hear Rebekah and Hayley downstairs," he nodded to the door, "why don't you take a minute and then meet me in the corridor?"

She was going to protest, to tell him that she was fine, but the lump in her throat prevented her from speaking and the tears were burning right behind her eyes, so she said nothing, and when he was gone she backed up and perched on the side of the chaise.

Everything in her life had spiraled so far out of her control in so little time, but the one thing she had thought she could count on was her body. She had always held control over her mind and been able to hold her tears at bay, but sharing her body with two other people made it that much harder, so she sat.

She sat on the arm of the thin sofa and took slow shallow breaths until she felt her stomach stop knotting and the pressure in her head dissipate somewhat as a single tear rolled over her cheek.

She wiped it away with her index finger and stood up; there was more of the house to search.

* * *

Rebekah waved a few cobwebs from in front of her face, cringing as the sticky material clung to her hand. Seriously, would it have killed Klaus to do a little light dusting?

"Where are we going?" Hayley followed the blonde down the final leg of a winding staircase. Goosebumps rose on her arms the lower they went into the secret passage Rebekah had opened.

Hayley's eyes grew round when she entered they cellar and spotted the coffins; pristine mahogany shining in the beam of the flashlight.

"You think Klaus killed him?" Her eyes darted to Rebekah. If the hybrid was capable of murdering his brother what were her odds of survival in the house?

Rebekah rolled her eyes and scoffed. Wasn't this girl supposed to know something about Originals? She had lived in Mystic Falls for a time, and everyone in that sorry excuse for a town knew.

"We can't be killed, silly girl," she scanned the coffins in the gloom. "That doesn't stop Klaus from finding ways to torture us. He has a set of mystical silver daggers; one in the heart sends us into a deep slumber."

"He gets his jollies from keeping us in a box, until he decides to pull the dagger out." Rebekah's eyes cut to Hayley as she pointed to the shortest of the three coffins in the cellar. "This one's mine."

"He keeps your coffin on standby," Hayley gave the blonde an incredulous look.

"He likes to be prepared for when his family members inevitably disappoint him," Rebekah smirked.

"I feel sick," Hayley held her stomach as it turned, threatening to revolt and bring up her supper.

"Welcome to the family, love," Rebekah sighed. She gave the coffins one final look before starting up the stairs with Hayley on her heels. "You should have run the second you realized Elijah was gone."

Hayley gripped the rail until her knuckles turned white; that had been her first thought when the witches took her.

"I can't," she gritted her teeth.

Rebekah paused on the stairs and turned around to find a knot between the werewolf's brows. Her hands gestured towards her flat stomach sharply.

"The witches hexed me. As long as I'm carrying this baby, I can't leave New Orleans; they'll kill me if I do."

"Knowing my brother, he's planning a box for you the second you give birth to whatever it is cooking in your tum," Rebekah's right hand found her hip. "I for one will be leaving the moment I find Elijah because being daggered in a box for decades sucks."

"Will he have one for Elena too?" Hayley cocked an eyebrow. She frowned when Rebekah scoffed.

"Doubtful," the blonde couldn't help her smirk, "she's the key to his hybrid army," her mouth twisted around the words, "and she's furthering her bloodline; plus Elijah would never let him lay a hand on her."

"He'd let Klaus hurt me?" Hayley shook with a myriad of emotions. What had Elena ever done to get Elijah on her side? What was it about the doppelganger that had men throwing themselves in the line of fire to keep her safe?

Rebekah looked the angry wolf up and down. She knew he'd never let harm come to her while she carried a child he viewed as innocent, but she didn't know if he'd stand in the way when the child was born; it would all depend on Hayley. If the werewolf took action against one of them then she knew Elijah would have killed her himself.

"I don't know," she admitted.

She emerged in the library and walked into the hall where she spotted Kol descending the stairs with Elena. She glanced at the pale features of the brunette before meeting her brother's eyes with a questioning look.

"What did you find?" He gave an almost imperceptible shake of his head.

"Caskets," Rebekah crossed her arms and tossed her hair over her shoulder. She saw Elena perk up a bit. "Three of them: all empty."

"How do you know that?" Hayley came out of the library. "You didn't open them."

"I didn't have to," Rebekah rolled her eyes. She turned her gaze back to Kol. "He's got mine, yours, and mothers," her brows rose when she caught Elena's eyes. "Yes, love, he's still hauling around our 'darling' mother, but Elijah's is missing."

"I thought Klaus always kept you all together," Elena lifted her hair up and over her shoulder; the new position eased her headache a bit.

"He does," Kol sighed, "And if Elijah's not down there then…"

"He's not in the house," Elena finished. She looked between the siblings. "What now?"

"Now I look for the witch," Rebekah inhaled slowly and closed her eyes trying to summon the name. "It starts with 's'… Sadie… Susie…"

"Sophie," Hayley supplied.

"That's it," Rebekah snapped her fingers.

Elena blinked when Rebekah vanished.

"Will you be alright alone, Hayley?" Kol turned his attention to the werewolf.

"I've been on my own since I was thirteen," she crossed her arms.

"Come on, darling," Kol offered his arm to Elena, "the witch will need something of Elijah's to work with. How comfortable are you running?"

"I think we're about to find out," she took a deep breath. Closing her eyes she nodded and felt Kol's arms wrap around her waist.

* * *

Rebekah was walking past a few burial vaults when she heard the sound of a vampire approaching and made out the sound of Elena telling Kol not to let go yet; she knew her brother would be able to hear the remainder of her conversation with the witch.

"Elijah likely has a dagger in his chest; it's a magical object and you're a witch." She stopped walking and faced the brunette. "Do a locator spell and find the dagger; you find that and we find Elijah."

Sophie shook her head and crossed her arms.

"I can't use magic." Her eyes narrowed. "It's punishable by death… Marcel's rules." She shrugged.

"Marcel?" Rebekah scoffed. "What do you think I'm going to do to you if you don't give me what I want?"

She felt the sudden urge to wrap her hands around the witch's throat when Sophie smirked.

"Not much. I've been linked, so whatever you do to me, you do to Hayley."

"Who?"

 _"Really sister?"_ Kol's voice reached her sensitive ears at the same moment Sophie gave her a pointed look.

"Right," she shook her head and sighed, "the mumzy. Luckily for you, Elijah seems to care about her, otherwise I'd break you neck right here."

She looked Sophie up and down before repeating the question drifting to her ears.

"How did Marcel get so bloody powerful, anyway? He wasn't like this when I left a hundred years ago."

* * *

_"Marcel has a way to tell whenever there's magic done in the Quarter. The 'how' isn't relevant."_

"Kol?" Elena swallowed. He had stopped them from moving after they'd only gone a few feet. "What happened to the locator spell?"

"Change of plans," he steered her back towards the entrance.

"But…" Elena looked back to the cemetery, "… there's a witch right there…"

"A witch who is bound to Hayley," he whispered, "whatever happens to her, happens to Hayley and the child. I won't give her the chance to hex you."

"I thought you said they couldn't use magic?" Elena frowned when they stepped out onto the street.

"They can't," he agreed, "but they found a way to hex one pregnant woman."

* * *

"Family's overrated," Rebekah held her hands behind her back and shook her head, "just take a look at me. I'm back in a city that's given me nothing but heartache, looking for a brother who's hell-bent on protecting a baby I don't care about."

"That's hard to believe," Sophie crossed her arms when Rebekah gave her an incredulous look. "You're here, aren't you?"

"I'm here for Elijah," Rebekah's eyes flashed. "The instant I find him, I'm gone. He is the one who idiotically believes this baby will be Niklaus' redemption, and now he's missing. Probably at the hands of Klaus himself, and you were foolish enough to believe that Elijah could convince Klaus to go up against Marcel, when everyone knows they have a history."

"Klaus sired him," Sophie rolled her eyes.

"You don't get it," Rebekah shook her head. "Klaus loved Marcel like a son. He was the bastard child of a man who saw him as nothing but a beast; Klaus saw himself in the child, and remembered how our father used to beat him. He brought him up in his own image, and without Elijah to stand between them all you have succeeded in doing is bringing together two lost souls. Who knows what they'll do."

* * *

Elena rubbed her upper arms and took a seat on the edge of a three tier fountain. It was cooler by the water, but the trickling sound was soothing.

Her eyes fluttered open when a warm jacket was draped over her shoulders.

"Thanks," she murmured.

"Are you sure you're alright darling?" Kol nodded and took a seat beside her on the fountain's edge.

"No," she could feel a hysterical laugh bubbling in her throat. "Elijah's missing and the witches in town can't use magic to help us find him, and even if they could they are willing to threaten the life of unborn children to get what they want from your family, and my hair has gotten so heavy it's giving me a migraine."

"I can do something about two of those things," he nodded. "Can I borrow your phone?"

"What's wrong with yours?" She pulled the device from her pocket with a frown.

"Nothing," he scrolled through her contacts, "I just didn't think Bonnie would answer a call from me." He located the number he wanted and pressed the phone to his ear; it connected on the fourth ring.

_"Hey, 'Lena."_

"It's Kol, actually," he smiled.

_"What did you do to my friend?"_

"Nothing, darling, she's right here, and she needs your help with a spell to find Elijah."

_"Isn't there a witch down there for that?"_

"None I'm willing to let within twenty feet of her," his eyes cut to Elena. "Are you up for a spell, Miss Bennett?" He smirked when she agreed. "Fantastic, I'll text you the requirements… no you don't need blood for this one… and you can call us back with a location."

"How do you know so much about magic?" Elena watched him type out a lengthy message on her phone complete with an incantation after hanging up.

"I was a witch, love," he sent off the text and offered her a hand up.

"Is that the second thing you can help with: the witches?" She cocked an eyebrow.

"I was actually going to help with the migraine," he smirked. "There are two viable solutions."

Elena stood and tilted her head.

"I can give you a little blood, or," he nodded to a string of brightly lit storefronts, "since that would only be a short term solution, you could get a haircut."

"That doesn't seem like a valuable use of time," she gave him a look.

"It's going to take Bonnie at least an hour to do the spell, so we've got a little time to kill."

* * *

"I must say," Klaus lifted his glass, "that this is a far cry from last night's party." He followed Marcel's eyes to a blonde in the far corner; her nose was buried in a book. "Ah," he couldn't stop his smirk, "in pursuit of the bartender from 'Rousseau's', I see."

"She's a work in progress," Marcel turned his attention back to his drink in an attempt to hide his smile.

"And yet here you are," Klaus grinned, "pining over her when you should be eating her for lunch." His eyes sought the bartender again. "She must be something special?"

Marcel ignored the bait and obvious fishing.

"Business first: the coroner called. He's got my number in case any dead tourists show up."

"That happen a lot around here?"

Marcel spun around on his stool and locked eyes with a young blonde woman. With the soft chatter and low background music he hadn't heard the vampire's approach.

"Hello, love," Klaus smirked, "join us for a drink?"

"I'd rather die of thirst, but thanks," she smiled sweetly. She turned her attention back to Klaus' drinking buddy. "The dead tourists?"

"I'm sorry," Marcel tilted his head, "but who are you?"

"How rude of me," Klaus smirked. "Marcellus this is Caroline. Caroline, sweetheart, this is Marcellus."

"Marcel's fine," he smiled. "Only Klaus and Elijah are allowed to call me Marcellus; just like I'm assuming he's the only one allowed to call you sweetheart."

Marcel took her hand and lifted it, placing a chaste kiss to her knuckles.

Klaus swallowed his growl, and narrowed his eyes.

"He's not allowed to call me sweetheart," Caroline crossed her arms. "You know, I'm actually looking for Elijah, have you seen him?"

She could have sworn she saw something flicker in Marcel's eyes, and she definitely heard his heart skip a beat; Elena had told her what that meant.

"Haven't seen him in a few weeks," he shrugged.

"Okay," Caroline nodded. Her eyes flickered to the bartender. "Humans in this town on vervain?"

She moved to an empty seat down the bar when Marcel shook his head and ordered a drink, compelling the bartender when he asked for her ID. She kept an ear on the conversation while sipping her drink. Apparently people took drunken tumbles into the Mississippi on a semi-regular basis; it happened enough that Marcel had a system in place for it.

She saw Klaus rise suddenly and watched him move to block the path of a blonde on her way out of the bar. Her shoulders tensed when he flashed the woman a charming smile.

"Excuse me, love." Klaus smiled at Cami. He tapped the book in her hands. "What's that you're studying?"

"Abnormal psychology," Cami cocked an eyebrow.

"Abnormal psychology," his smile turned to a conspiratorial grin. "Perhaps you could help me diagnose my friend over here." He nodded to Marcel behind him. "He's been a little bit depressed, can't keep his mind off a girl."

His eyes caught Caroline's narrow gaze for a moment before returning to Cami.

"He tells me she's a queen, fit for a king." He heard Caroline's scoff. "What do you think love? Should he cut his losses and move on?"

"Be a nice guy," Cami turned her eyes to Marcel and tilted her head. A small smile lifted the corners of her mouth. "Maybe the opportunity will present itself someday."

"How about tonight, nine o'clock?" Marcel jumped from his seat before she could leave and smiled, suddenly feeling rather flustered. "I'll meet you right here?" Hope flashed in his eyes.

"I'll take it under advisement," Cami smirked before leaving.

"Mm," Marcel watched her go, "harsh."

"Perhaps I've lost my touch," Klaus mused, "or you've lost yours."

"I'm pretty sure it's you," Marcel's eyes darted to Caroline before giving Klaus a pointed look.

* * *

"Crushed aconite flower," Hayley peeked up at the witch through her lashes.

"Wolfsbane?" Katie's brows rose. "That's a poison; you gonna kill a wolf?"

"Just a little one," Hayley's eyes darted down to her hand pressed to her abdomen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I love getting your reviews.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO.
> 
> Part 2 of the super long chapter.

Caroline gasped when she suddenly found herself pushed into the brick wall of an alley. She had been a vampire for nearly a year, but he had still managed to take her by surprise.

"What exactly do you think you're doing?" Klaus leaned down to meet her eyes.

"Looking for your brother," she tilted her head. The heat from his body sizzled over her skin in spite of the inches separating them.

"Really?" He smirked. "Because it looks like you're following me."

Her eyes were hard when she met his gaze.

"I am a hundred and ten percent sure that you've killed him, so right now you're the only lead I've got."

"Originals can't be killed, sweetheart," his jaw ticked.

"But they can be daggered," she smiled sweetly, "which for all intents and purposes is dead. Can you look me in the eye and tell me Elijah is not lying in a coffin somewhere with a silver dagger through his heart?"

She waited patiently for him to dispute her accusation, for him to tell her that he hadn't, basically, murdered his older brother. She knew that he knew she was on vervain, so the possibility of compelling her was out of the question; she doubted he would have compelled her anyway.

"Go back to the house, Caroline," he backed away from her, "or go home."

"I'm not leaving Elena alone with the oldest vampires on earth," she crossed her arms, "and she won't leave until she knows Elijah is alright."

* * *

"So, Caroline?" Marcel led Klaus into the underground parking garage. "You've got a thing for her."

"Am I that obvious?" Klaus smirked. "I'm clearly losing my touch though."

"I don't know about that," Marcel smirked, "she looked pretty pissed when you were flirting with Cami."

"I was not flirting with Cami," he denied; internally smirking at the news.

"You kinda were," Marcel chuckled.

* * *

Rebekah drew in a deep breath when Marcel vanished from the parking lot; she exhaled when he appeared a few feet away from her on the balcony.

"Rebekah Mikaelson," he crossed his arms, "last time I saw you, Royal Street was burning and you were all fleeing the city from your daddy."

"I thought you were dead."

"You never looked back to find out," he glared. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm looking for Elijah," she mirrored his stance, "I think Klaus has done something to him."

"Caroline, she a friend of yours?" Marcel cocked an eyebrow. "You're the second person to bring up Elijah tonight."

"Does that mean you've seen him?" Rebekah tilted her head. The thought of compelling the information from Marcel crossed her mind at the same time she rationalized that he would likely be on vervain if he was spending an exorbitant amount of time with Klaus.

"I'm not getting in the middle of this," he held up his hands. "I know better than to get between the Mikaelson's during a family feud; it doesn't end well for anyone involved."

"Let me make one thing clear," she stepped into his personal space, "if I find out you know where Elijah is, you won't need to fear Klaus, I'll kill you."

* * *

Elena ran her fingers through the loose curls hanging around her shoulders. She had been reluctant to take the time for the cut, but Kol had made a good point as if he knew not doing anything while waiting for the call would drive her crazy. Part of her was glad of his insistence because with the few drops of blood he had given her in a bottle of water her headache was gone and there was zero chance of it returning anytime soon, at least not as a result of her hormone grown hair.

"Thank you," she turned to look at him.

"Don't mention it," he smirked and nodded to the soft curls around her face, "it suits you."

"I wasn't talking about that," she managed a weak smile.

"I couldn't leave you in Mystic Falls, darling," he steered them into the park; "you'd have just followed me down."

"You still didn't have to help me," she tucked her hair behind her ears, "and you are, so thank you."

They lapsed into silence for several minutes before she bit her lip and turned to look at him.

"Why are you helping me?"

Kol paused on the path and took in a deep breath. He knew why he was doing it, but some things shouldn't come from him; there were some things that she had to hear from Elijah, so he settled for a partial truth.

"I happen to like you," he smirked, "you've got spirit, darling. I basically told you the path was clear for you to run, and you chose to come down here to find my brother. And you're carrying some very precious cargo," his eyes flickered to her stomach. "I've got nieces or nephews in there, and they happen to have been fathered by the brother I like, so I'll be helping you because I'm certain that you're going to look for him, placing yourself in Nik's sights, with or without my aid."

Elena crossed her arms and felt his jacket shift on her slim shoulders.

"Someone needs to stand between you and the big bad wolf," he grinned when he spotted the ghost of amusement in her eyes.

Elena reached into her pocket for her buzzing cell phone but paused in answering it when she saw his head cock to one side.

_"Come on, Hayley. One upset stomach and all this stupid drama is ancient history."_

Elena followed the turn of his head to the other side of the park. Through an opening in the trees she saw a familiar face.

"Is that…" Her eyes widened when she saw Hayley lift a steaming cup to her mouth.

Kol was about to flash across the park and knock the Styrofoam from her hands when she paused. He tensed, waiting for the moment when he would either run or relax. She lowered the cup and the tension in his shoulders eased a bit.

"What was she doing?" Elena unlocked her phone and pushed the button to return the phone call.

"I've got a decent idea," he sighed and gave a pointed look to Elena's abdomen.

The call connected at the same time Elena saw what Kol had stopped listening to. She swore and pointed around him.

"Stay here!"

_"Elena, what's going on?"_

"Nothing, Bonnie," she started towards the other side of the park. She could see that Rebekah had beaten her brother to Hayley, but Kol had arrived in time with the second set of vampires; she swallowed her gorge when she saw the hearts in his hands, suddenly reminded of the time Elijah had torn out the hearts of two vampires to keep them from taking her to Klaus. "It's been handled. Did you find him?"

_"I'm sorry, 'Lena. I used the spell, I tried it three times, but someone's cloaking him."_

She felt her heart plummet with the news. Apparently nothing was easy, and it had been too much to hope that Bonnie would get back to her with an actual location.

_"The closest I could get was the French Quarter in New Orleans."_

* * *

Klaus returned to the house with Caroline an hour later and balked at the bonfire fuel littering his front courtyard. Rebekah and Kol were piling the dead in preparation for burning. The admission that they had stopped the group from taking Hayley made him growl, turning on the werewolf.

"I told you to stay out of the Quarter for this very reason," his voice rose in pitch as he advanced on her, "werewolves are banned in the Quarter."

"How the bloody hell was she supposed to know that?" Kol snapped.

Rebekah began moving towards one of the bodies.

"Did you think I kept her confined to the house for my own amusement?" Klaus snarled. "Leave him," he turned on Rebekah. "You two have done enough don't you think? You've left a trail of bodies to my front door!"

"What were they supposed to do?" Caroline rolled her eyes. "Leave them in town where anyone could see?"

Klaus stormed around Caroline and started dragging the lone survivor towards the house.

"What are you doing?" Caroline crossed her arms.

"I'm going to drain him of vervain, compel him to believe his mates found religion and moved to Utah, so he can explain to Marcel why he lost three more vampires tonight," he stopped in the entry and turned to face the others. "Then I'll compel him to do whatever I say. So I'll have two spies in the compound."

"Two?" Kol cocked an eyebrow.

"Yes, two," Klaus dropped the body after snapping the vampire's neck, "Marcel has had every vampire in town on vervain since I settled in. I had to get in on day one so…"

"You killed the tourists," Caroline's brows rose.

"Turned them," his eyes swiveled to the blonde. "Marcel chose the newest addition to his army and I compelled him before he'd had even a drop of vervain."

"What were you doing in the French Quarter in the first place?" Klaus' burning gaze turned towards Hayley; her silence drained the last of his patience. "Answer me!"

"Leave her be," Rebekah glared at her brother.

"You want to know?" Hayley's hands clenched into fists at her sides; her jaw clenched tightly. "I was buying poison, so I could put your little baby out of its misery."

Elena spotted the rage in Klaus' eyes a split second before he vanished from her line of sight. He was only gone a moment before Hayley was pinned to the wall with a hand around her throat.

"Keep your hands off of her," Kol hissed; he was gone a second later. A rush of wind was all that preceded them before Klaus was being held to the opposite wall.

"Are you alright?" Elena rushed forward and caught Hayley before she hit the floor.

"She's pregnant!" Rebekah took up a protective stance between the pregnant women and her brothers. Her eyes narrowed in a glare directed at her half-brother. "All the bluster about not wanting the child, and the second she tells you she's ready to get rid of it you care?"

Hayley pushed Elena's hands away and leaned against the wall.

"It's okay to care, Klaus," Caroline met his eyes. "It's okay to want something."

"That's all Elijah was trying to do, all he wanted for you. All we've ever wanted," Rebekah crossed her arms.

Klaus swallowed. He ran his hands through his hair and dropped to sit on the stairs. He turned to Rebekah when she took a seat beside him.

"I gave Elijah to Marcel," he sighed.

"What?"

"Marcel was nervous." Klaus shrugged. "It's bad enough having one Original returned to town, but two? His crew was getting antsy. He wanted Elijah gone, so…" Klaus smirked. "I gave him a peace offering."

"You bartered Elijah?" Elena could feel the anger simmering in her blood. The second time she said it her voice rose to a shriek; she didn't realize she had lunged until Kol's arms wrapped around her waist and his chest was pressed to her back.

Klaus was over a thousand years old, and as the Original hybrid arguably the most powerful being on earth, but the fire in Elena's eyes managed to make his blood run cold. He thought the only thing that might have kept her from killing him then and there, aside from her lack of white oak and the arms of his brother holding her back, was the knowledge that her best friend was a member of his sire line.

"I had a plan," he leaned back on the stairs and met her flashing eyes, "gain Marcel's trust, and honor Elijah's wish that the child be born."

* * *

"Are you alright?" Elena found Hayley in her room an hour later staring at a couple of bottles she had pulled from her purse.

Hayley glanced up before returning her eyes to the phials in her hands.

"Why?" She leaned in the door and nodded to the herbs that would have most certainly killed the baby.

"You gonna give me the pro-life speech?" Hayley rolled her eyes. "Save me the self-righteous spiel; I don't want your lecture."

"I'm not here to lecture you Hayley," Elena straightened her spine and stepped into the room, "I'm just curious. It's your body and your choice, but from where I was standing it didn't look like you wanted to do it."

"You wouldn't get it," Hayley scoffed. "You're not bound to this town. You're not being used as a pawn in some supernatural plot."

Elena bit her cheek; she was always being used as a supernatural pawn, it was her lot in life and there was nothing she could do about it, but she didn't voice those things to Hayley.

"You can't tell me you didn't think about it," Hayley's eyes dropped to Elena's swollen stomach, the gentle curve seemed to mock her. "You haven't thought about swallowing a steaming cup of vervain infused tea?"

"I haven't," she shook her head. The thought had never crossed her mind, not once in the days since learning she was indeed pregnant; she couldn't hurt her babies. They were so small and innocent, and they were his; she wouldn't harm her children.

"I want these babies, Hayley," Elena pressed her palm to her naval and took a deep breath, "and even if I didn't, based on what Elijah was willing to do for you, it's a safe bet he will." She met Hayley's dark eyes and tilted her head. "You didn't drink it."

"I couldn't," Hayley set the phials on her nightstand and crossed her arms, "when it came down to it I couldn't hurt it. Why'd you really come down here?"  _Trying to see how many vampires you can wrap around your little finger?_

"I came for Elijah," Elena tucked a strand of hair behind her ear; the new length was going to take some time to get used to. "He left Mystic Falls before I knew I was pregnant."

"So you came running for him?" Hayley cocked a brow. "In my experience Petrova doppelgangers only use men to get what they want. What do you want from Elijah?"

Elena gritted her teeth. In the back of her mind she was questioning her decision to come and check on the werewolf.

"The only thing I want is to know he's alright, and for him to know he's going to be a father," she could feel the tension at the base of her skull. She didn't like the tone Hayley had used, and she disliked the indirect reference to Katherine even more.

"They know where he is now," Hayley leaned back against her headboard, "why don't they just go and get him?"

"Because there are still daggers with their names on them if Kol and Rebekah cross Klaus," Elena sighed. She didn't want to see either Mikaelson fall victim to the enchanted slumber of the dagger; they had lost who knew how many years of their lives to Klaus' cruelty.

Hayley's eyes dragged over the pregnant doppelganger before darting to her purse. She debated doing it, but in the end reached for the bag; she wanted Elijah back as much as his siblings did. The way that Rebekah spoke she would leave as soon as her brother was found, and she didn't know about Kol; Elijah was the one who had said he would protect her.

Elena's eyes widened when Hayley pulled a length of cloth from her bag, unwrapping the package to reveal three silver daggers.

"Here," she passed the silver to Elena.

* * *

Elena approached the door across the hall from the bedroom she was sharing with Caroline and knocked. She had been situated across from Kol and beside Rebekah with Hayley on the other end of the hall.

"Darling?" Kol opened the door.

Elena blushed and cleared her throat when she saw he had clearly just emerged from the shower. Tiny droplets of water clung to his chest and dripped down towards the towel slung low on his hips.

"Elena," Kol chuckled and cleared his throat to gain her attention, "did you need something, love?"

"Hayley found these," Elena shook herself from the images of another chest beneath her wandering fingers. She lifted the folded cloth in her hand for him to take.

"She could have brought them to Rebekah or me," he unfolded the cloth and felt his eyes widen in awe.

Elena smiled when he looked back up to her eyes. Kol returned the grin and stepped into the hall. There was no need to whisper since Klaus had left the house after the incident in the foyer; he and Rebekah had insisted their brother do his bleeding out in the stables.

"Bex," he smirked when she stepped out of her bedroom and lifted the daggers in his hand for her inspection. The communication between them was silent; there was a slight nod before Rebekah flashed from the house.

"What just happened?" Elena cocked an eyebrow.

"She's going to confront Marcellus," Kol stepped back into the room, "and as soon as I've dressed I'll deal with these," he nodded to the daggers. "With any luck we'll have Elijah back before sunup."

Elena wanted to smile and rejoice at the news, but something was holding her back.

"Luck hasn't been on my side lately," she sighed.

"Chin up, love," he tossed the daggers on his bed and walked into the closet, "bad luck always turns around." He left out the part about things getting really bad first.

* * *

Marcel pushed open the door to the attic and stepped inside. He picked his way passed a couple of canvases before turning around.

Rebekah glared when she found herself barred entry. She beat on the barrier when she saw a mahogany coffin bearing an ornate 'M'; it was him, it had to be him.

"Invite me in," she growled.

"You gotta ask the lady of the house," Marcel turned his head. "Come on out Davina."

A young girl held her hands in front of her body as she tiptoed into view. Rebekah thought she looked like a porcelain doll with her white dress and loose hair; the very picture of childhood innocence.

Rebekah's eyes narrowed when the girl waited for Marcel to instruct her before issuing Rebekah an invitation. She strode over to Elijah's coffin the second she was able to, fingers closing around the lid of the casket. Wrapping her fingers around the dagger she started to pull.

"I wouldn't do that," Davina barked. She held out her hand forcing Rebekah to shove the dagger back into Elijah's chest before it could leave his heart.

"Who the hell are you?" Rebekah glared from her place on the floor.

"Davina," she shrugged and turned to Marcel. "She's an old one isn't she?"

"Yeah," Marcel's eyes flickered with an unknown emotion. "Rebekah is an Original… which means she can't be killed."

 _Not easily,_  Rebekah looked between the pair of them. She had thought witches couldn't use magic in the Quarter.

"She doesn't seem very nice," Davina tilted her head, with an overly innocent look on her face.

"She can be…" Marcel looked Rebekah up and down with a smug smile, "… but she hasn't been very nice to me tonight."

"Then I'm afraid it's time for you to leave."

Rebekah saw something sinister flash in Davina's eyes, and without moving a muscle she somehow managed to propel Rebekah across the room.

Pain bloomed over her back when Davina slammed her into the wall repeatedly before throwing her through the still open door.

* * *

Rebekah paused when asked where to find the girl and consequently Elijah's coffin. She had returned to the house in a huff while explaining how she had forced Marcel to take her to their captive brother.

"Clever bitch," Rebekah muttered. "I don't know where she is."

"What do you mean?" Klaus approached.

"Rebekah?" Elena blinked tiredly. The blonde's shouting had roused her from the uneasy slumber she had held. Her blood ran cold when she thought of the powerful witch holding him captive; Marcel's secret weapon: Davina. A girl with more power than Rebekah had ever felt before in her millennium of life.

"She wiped my memory," Rebekah cried, spinning on Klaus. "Marcel possesses a weapon more powerful than an Original, and you handed Elijah over to him!"

Elena felt the blood drain from her face as Rebekah continued to scream. "How many times will Elijah forgive you? How long until his hope for your redemption finally dies?"

"I did what I had to!" Klaus gestured wildly. "Marcel took our home!"

"Home is worthless without family," Rebekah cried. "I'm going to find Elijah… whatever it takes. Are you going to help me?"

"Whatever it takes," Klaus nodded.

* * *

"I'm sorry about all of that," Marcel entered into the attic again. He strode across the room to watch Davina drawing at an easel.

"She doesn't scare me," Davina put down her charcoal. "None of them do."

"I didn't think they would," Marcel chuckled, "but the thing is they seem to be here to stay."

Marcel turned away from where he was examining the drawing. The woman was facing away from them with her hands curled protectively around the gentle swell of her stomach.

"They don't belong here," Davina's voice dropped to a gravelly growl.

"You might have a hard time convincing them of that," Marcel took one final look at the drawing. "That's why I need to ask you a favor. I need you to figure out how we kill an Original."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I love getting your reviews.
> 
> On to the next story that hasn't been updated in a while... Shades of Blue.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO.

_August 1359,_

_I have noticed a difference in my siblings. Our bond strains beneath the pressure of our life as vampires. Each day removes them further from the humanity we once possessed._

_My sweet sister, Rebekah, has grown quite indifferent to brutality._

_My mischievous brother, Kol, seems to delight in chaos._

_However, the true problem remains Niklaus. He continues to hide his loneliness with cruelty. Still, I cling to hope that I, as their elder brother, can lead them down the correct path, a path charged with the power of a family united. For if I fail, our family's legacy will end in darkness._

Hayley paused, her finger still tracing the faded lines of ink, when the sound of voices drifted up from the foyer, inwardly wincing when a set of feet paused outside the bedroom door. Peeking up through her lashes she waited for the inevitable telling off that was sure to come.

Elena hesitated, her knuckles millimetres from the door's casing, her eyes dropping to the thick tome spread over Hayley's crossed legs. It was heavy and upside down, but despite only ever seeing his writing once she knew the book belonged to Elijah and was likely a journal. He had once mentioned keeping a journal when he saw hers on the dark wood of her nightstand. Part of her wanted to light into Hayley for what she saw as a huge invasion of privacy, but the other part, the part that still wanted to make an effort told her to keep her mouth shut.

She lowered her hand to her side and cleared her throat.

"I made some muffins," Elena waved in the general direction of the kitchen, "I thought you might like one. I'm not the best cook in the world, but I'm a decent baker."

Hayley blinked in surprise and tilted her head suspiciously, but ultimately nodded and stood up. The combined smells of apples and cinnamon had been making her mouth water for the last few minutes since the mixture had risen to the second floor.

Climbing to her feet she set the book on the bed and followed Elena down the stairs. They paused in the foyer when they were able to make out the conversation happening between the Original siblings.

Evidently Klaus had burned the bodies of the dead vampires in the night while they slept and Rebekah and Kol were not pleased about it; the younger siblings appeared to have a touch of pyromania.

"Was I supposed to leave them in the front yard?" Klaus crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow.

"You could have let us help," Kol drawled.

"I do so love to set things on fire," Rebekah perched on the edge of an antique desk.

"They were my responsibility," Klaus waved dismissively. "They attacked the helpless pregnant girl who's carrying my child."

"I'm so moved by your new-found sense of fatherly duties," Rebekah rolled her eyes, "towards the werewolf carrying your hybrid bun in her oven."

"Have you guys just been arguing over a match, or have you actually come up with a plan?" Elena leaned in the door frame.

"If there's a plan I'd like to know what it is," Hayley sighed. Her eyes flickered from one Original to the next before settling on Caroline who was jiggling her foot.

The look the blonde gave them suggested the siblings had been locked in the petty squabble for some time.

"That really depends on what plan you mean, love," Klaus smirked, "Kol's plans for general chaos, my plan for global domination, or Rebekah's plan to find love in a cruel, cruel world?" His hand came up to catch the pencil before it could sink into his face.

"Chaos is best when unplanned," Kol leaned back in his chair.

"The plan to find Elijah," Elena crossed her arms.

"The good brother," Hayley added. She rolled her eyes when Kol gasped indignantly.

"No, no," Rebekah smirked at her offended brother, "she's got that quite right. Elijah is the good one."

"Yes," Caroline's eyes narrowed, "and he's in the possession of your mortal enemy after you stabbed in him in the back."

"In the front," Klaus held up a finger, "if we're being specific."

"Is there a plan, or what?" Hayley crossed her arms. "You did say you'd get him back."

"Marcel is not my mortal enemy, he is my friend." Klaus rolled his eyes when Rebekah scoffed. "He's a friend who is unaware of my plans to sabotage his hold over the supernatural community of the French Quarter, but a friend nonetheless. As for Elijah, I daggered him to gain Marcel's trust. Had I known he would place my brother in the hands of a teenage witch I would have weighed my options differently, and the plan," he turned to Rebekah and gestured for her to finish.

"The plan is to simply ask for Marcel to return him to us," Rebekah took a seat on the arm of Kol's chair.

"That's not the whole plan, is it?"

Elena felt her eyes widen. Nothing was ever that simple; there was no way Marcel was simply going to hand Elijah back over to them. Caroline had told her the previous evening that the vampire was smart; it would be far more likely that Marcel would want to hold on to Elijah on the very real chance that Klaus were to get 'out-of-line'.

"Nik may be a miserable excuse for a brother," Rebekah scoffed, "but there is none more diabolical."

"Oi," Kol huffed.

"That's only plan A, love," Klaus smiled at the humans, "there's always plan B."

"What's plan B?" Hayley cocked an eyebrow.

A broad smile lifted the corners of Klaus' mouth.

"War."

* * *

Elena picked at the apple muffin; crystalized cinnamon clung to her fingers and littered the table top along with the larger crumbs. She glanced up when the silence was interrupted by Hayley.

"You alright?" Her eyes flickered over Elena's pale features.

"I'm fine, thanks," she didn't think about the phrase until she'd said it. Once she realized the words that had slipped from her lips she shook with silent laughs that quickly threatened to turn to sobs. She blinked away her tears and exhaled slowly before answering the incredulous question in Hayley's eyes.

"People used to ask me that every day after my parents died," she took a sip of water, "and I'd always say 'I'm fine, thanks'; I thought eventually, if I just said it enough, I would be alright."

"Are you?" Hayley cocked an eyebrow.

Elena leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes for a moment. Smiling softly she met the werewolf's gaze.

"Ask me again tomorrow."

Hayley ran her finger along the top of her muffin. There were crumbs around her place at the table, but hers were much smaller than the ones surrounding Elena's hands.

Elena wiped the cinnamon from her fingers and crossed her arms over the table, feeling the crumbs brushing her skin.

"How about you," she focused on Hayley.

"What about me?" The question came off harsher than she meant it.

"Are you alright?" Elena clarified. "You've been stuck in a house with Klaus for, what I'm assuming is, months and carrying a miracle baby. I know that's a lot to process."

"How are you processing it?" Hayley countered.

"Better than I did at first. I didn't believe I was pregnant until Caroline dragged me to the doctor's office a few days before coming down here."

"You didn't believe it?" Hayley looked at her incredulously.

"I thought it was impossible," Elena sighed. "I haven't had many partners, Hayley, and in the last six months I was only with Elijah." Her eyes flickered over the werewolf slowly. The question she had wanted to ask the previous night on the tip of her tongue. "Has anyone asked you how you feel about all of this? Being a mother," she clarified.

Hayley blinked as a feeling of déjà vu took over her. What were the odds the only other person to ask about her feelings was someone connected to Elijah?

"I… I don't know how I feel about being a mother," she swallowed, "I never really had a good one… not like you."

"I had a good adoptive mother," Elena smiled, "but my birth mother was a real piece of work. She kidnapped me for Klaus and then burned alive in front of me."

"My birth parents abandoned me when I was born, and my adoptive parents kicked me out the second I turned into a wolf," Hayley bit her bottom lip.

Elena felt her eyes widen in horror. Parents were supposed to love you unconditionally, and hers had turned their backs on her for something she couldn't control. How long had Hayley been on her own?

"I'm sorry," she cringed at her choice of words, but didn't know what else to say to that. Luckily they were joined by Kol a few seconds later.

"Hello darling," he slid into a chair beside her.

"I was certain you'd be out causing chaos by now," Elena cocked an eyebrow.

"Where did you go?" Hayley eyed the black tote he had placed on the table.

"I ran to the hospital," Kol smirked. Reaching into the bag he extracted a glass tube, a tourniquet, a tube, a needle and an empty bag.

"Do I want to know?" Elena blinked at the medical supplies.

"Nik's planning for war," Kol hooked his foot around Elena's chair, swinging her around slowly, "I'm planning ways to avoid potential bloodshed."

"I thought you worshiped chaos," Hayley watched him push up Elena's sleeve.

"Chaos is all well and good," he smirked, "but I'd rather keep the two of you out the potential crossfire. Once it becomes general knowledge, and it will, that you both are carrying miracle children you'll be seen as leverage by the other side; I'd rather not see my family come to harm."

Elena held her sleeve and watched him tie off her arm. The alcohol swab made her shiver, but she refrained from asking until he had pressed the needle into her vein and the blood began to trickle through the tube into the bag.

"What are you planning?"

"Simple," he set a heavy book on the table. It was old, the pages worn and the leather supple. "I'll be placing your blood on ice and sending it to Virginia using same day shipping."

"Bonnie?" Elena blinked. She had always hated the sight of her own blood, so she focused on the pages as he flipped through them.

"Yes," he nodded, "she can use your blood to seek out Elijah."

"She can?" Hayley tilted her head.

"Yes," Kol turned a page. "The fluid around the babies would be better, but I'm not sticking a needle in her stomach and she still shares their blood. Bonnie can try another locator spell." He pulled a box from the bag and opened it revealing a smaller box inside. "Assuming that doesn't work I'll also send her this."

Elena and Hayley looked inside to see a length of silver, wickedly sharp in the kitchen light.

"Is it a good idea to be sending that across the country?" Hayley frowned.

"Against one of them it's useless on its own," Elena explained. She turned her attention back to Kol and the book that was clearly a grimoire. "Are you sending Bonnie the locator spell too?"

"No," he grinned when he found what he was looking for, "I'm certain she has more than a few spells that will work, and she'll have a couple of options to work with."

Elena picked up a length of knotted rope from the box; it was practically a ball with braided rope hanging from either end.

"It's a sanguinum knot," he explained. Tearing the page gently from the book he folded it and placed it in the box. "If Miss Bennett can successfully untie it using this spell then she will have severed the link between Hayley and the witch bound to her."

"I'll be free?" Hayley blinked suddenly. The news that she would have a chance to run warred with the knowledge that soon people would know of her condition and who had put her in her 'predicament'. The more she thought about it the more leaving New Orleans and her baby's family seemed like a bad idea.

"Thinking of running for the hills, love?" Kol cocked an eyebrow.

"Rebekah might have mentioned it being a good idea," Hayley murmured.

Kol pulled the needle from Elena's arm and gave her a tissue to staunch the small wound. He had just finished packing the box when his phone rang.

"Speak of the she-devil," he sighed with a smirk before placing the call on speaker: "Bex."

"Have you heard from him yet?" Rebekah's voice was surrounded by street traffic.

"No," he scoffed. "Were you expecting that I would?"

"Hold on," Rebekah sighed. They heard her asking Caroline how to add another call, and after a moment the line clicked on. "For the love of Mary Magdalene, Niklaus, how long does it take to ask a simple question?"

 _That's a new one,_  Elena stared at the phone; anxious for the reply. Klaus' voice came off as jovial, but she had been on the receiving end of his schemes and detected the tone of malice underneath.

"Much longer than you'd think, considering the answer was, as expected: no. Marcel's man, Thierry, is suspicious. He thinks you killed ten nightwalkers."

"That's ridiculous," Rebekah scoffed.

"Yeah," Kol chimed in, "she only killed seven, and I killed two. You're responsible for the last one."

"How goes the bleeding?" Klaus' tone turned lighter.

"I'm not doing your dirty work, Nik," Kol rolled his eyes. "You want to turn a minion then you can do it yourself, or compel your other minion to do the job."

"Why the bloody hell would I do that when you're right there in the house? Don't think I can't hear Elena and Hayley's hearts in the background. And I've already compelled young Joshua; he's in the cellar as we speak, but the process is taking too long, and you, little brother, are an expert in making people bleed."

"I have other things to do," Kol tapped the table. "You'll have to deal with your little pet on your own."

"Are you telling me you don't want to take an active role in this war?" Klaus chuckled.

"I am," Kol shook his head as if his brother could see the action.

"So it's definitely war, then?" Rebekah sighed. "Can't I just kill Thierry?"

"He's playing friendly, Rebekah, if we kill Marcel's favorite son he'll catch onto us, so yes, sister, it is war. Do you know what to do with the witch?"

Elena could hear the smile in Rebekah's voice; it sent a chill down her spine. Silently she prayed for whatever soul would be on the receiving end of the vampire's wrath.

"I believe I do."

"Excellent," Klaus exhaled. "You manage Sophie Deveraux, and I'll take care of the next step since Kol has decided to be completely useless."

"I'm still here," Kol crossed his arms and glared at the phone. "Caroline can you hear me?"

"Of course I can hear you."

Elena could practically feel her best friend's eye roll.

"Fantastic, darling, I'm going to need you to hurry back to the plantation. I need your help with something."

He hung up before anyone could ask what he wanted from the baby vampire, but that didn't stop Elena from voicing the question.

"I've come to a decision," he explained. Reaching for his phone he pressed a few buttons to make the necessary arrangements. "I'm thinking this," he nodded to the box, "would be better hand delivered."

"You want Caroline to take all of this to Mystic Falls?"

"Didn't she swear not to leave Elena alone with the oldest vampires in history?" Hayley crossed her arms.

"She can be there and back in ten hours," Kol turned to the door when the woman in question appeared.

"I can be where and back?" Caroline cocked an eyebrow.

"Mystic Falls, love," he picked up the box. "I would be very grateful if you would take this to the little witch. If you leave now you can be back before midnight."

He followed her quick gaze to Elena.

"I'll be fine, Care," Elena stood up and cleaned the mess she had made, "please take it. Bonnie might be able to find him with the contents."

Caroline pushed her hair behind her ear before nodding.

"I assume I'm taking a plane," she turned to Kol.

"Private jet," he smirked. "I'll take you to the airport and it will wait for you at the air strip in Richmond. There will also be a car lined up for you when you touch down."

"That was fast," Elena cocked an eyebrow.

"I haven't actually taken care of the car yet," he shrugged, "I'll line that up when she's on the plane."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always I love getting your reviews.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO.
> 
> The next few chapters are going to be shorter, but they should all come out over the next few days, unless I decide to make a major change to anything.

She propped the box on her hip and knocked; the cold from the ice seeped through the cardboard and material of her shirt into her hip. It was a few minutes before the door opened.

"Hey, Bon," she smiled.

"Come on in," Bonnie stepped aside.

Caroline walked around her and into the sitting room where a few grimoires were laying out on the table. Candles were set up and lit along with sand and other magical objects she would need for the spell; it was clear Bonnie had been busy in the hours since Caroline had called.

"How's everything going down there?" Bonnie reached for the box. Popping open the lid she stared down at the contents.

"It could be better," Caroline grimaced. "Elijah's still missing, Elena's a nervous wreck, Rebekah and Klaus are waging war, Kol's surprising everyone by staying out of it and Hayley…"

She reached into the box and lifted the knotted rope and the one spell Kol had sent her down with. Unrolling the papers she passed them to Bonnie.

"Hayley is linked to a witch who holds the life of her and her baby in her hands."

Bonnie took the spell and the length of rope. She could see runes carved in the leather on either end of the cords.

"Kol says its representational magic and that if you can unknot the rope using the spell you break the bond between Hayley and the witch." Caroline took the rope and the spell and set it aside. Reaching into the box she lifted the bag of blood.

"Elena?" Bonnie held out her hand.

"Do you think you can find him?" Caroline nodded.

Bonnie turned over the blood bag and reached into the box to extract a silver dagger. Placing the items on the table she reached into the box again for a map of New Orleans.

"I think I've got a better chance than I did without all of this," Bonnie unfolded the paper. Spreading it out she looked up to meet her friend's eyes. "Are you staying for the spell?"

"I've got a plane waiting," Caroline shook her head.

There had been delays at the airport on the way to Mystic Falls and no amount of compulsion had been able to speed up the engine trouble, or move the planes ahead in the queue. She had already been gone longer than she had wanted to be; at the rate she was going it would be near midnight before she made it back to New Orleans if not later.

"I'll call when I figure it out," Bonnie promised.

* * *

Elena bit her bottom lip and stepped into the room. She had been hoping not to find Hayley in the room again, but there she was.

Hayley glanced back over her shoulder while gathering up the leather bound volumes. The books were so heavy that she could only lift two at a time.

"Go ahead," she moved towards the trunk so she could replace the books that pertained to the fourteenth century, "you've wanted to say something since this morning."

"It's just," Elena moved her shoulder length hair behind her ear, "they're his journals."

"And you see what I was doing as a massive invasion of privacy?" Hayley closed the case and sat on the lid as Elena nodded.

She moved into the room and sat on the edge of the bed, fighting the sudden urge she had to lie down in the beam of light cast from the setting sun and take a little catnap. Instead she met the werewolf's eyes.

"If you know then why'd you do it?"

Hayley inhaled slowly and dropped her eyes to the cream and gold bedspread.

"I was hoping to find something useful," she blew out a rush of air and met the doppelganger's eyes. "Something that might help with Marcel or the witches, but what I got was internal brooding."

Elena bit down her smile and nodded. She would never read another person's journal but she could guess the type of content Elijah would have unburdened. A journal was a place to work through the things that happened every day, and if Elijah had been brooding it was likely something to do with his siblings. Her own writing often centered on her friends and family.

"Why not just ask someone?"

"Right," Hayley nodded, "I could ask Klaus who has become best friends with Marcel, or Rebekah and Kol, but I get the sense they've revealed all they know."

"Fair point," Elena nodded.

A gentle knock drew their eyes to the door where Kol leaned in the frame. He held his jacket in one hand as he looked at them.

"Not going to the party," Elena's eyes flickered over his casual clothes.

"Nope," he smirked, "Rebekah and Nik will be at the Abattoir tonight, and I will be overseeing the witches' handiwork."

"I thought Rebekah was doing that," Hayley frowned.

"She was going to," he straightened and pulled on his coat, "but as of yet Marcel is unaware of my presence in the city. I can make sure the witch does the right spells and deflect suspicion from Rebekah in the event this young witch they're trying to fool catches on. Wouldn't want Marcel accusing Rebekah of anything."

"But accusing Klaus is okay?" Elena cocked an eyebrow.

"Not only is it okay," Kol smirked, "but it happens to be a favorite past time of mine."

Hayley gave him a sceptical look.

"He likes to blame me for everything to," he chuckled. "Will you two be alright until I get back? It'll just be the two of you."

"We should be fine," Hayley nodded.

"You're the only ones who know we're out here," Elena agreed.

* * *

Rebekah's eyes skimmed the crowd as she stepped into the party arm in arm with Klaus. She had to hand it to Marcel because he certainly knew how to throw a party. Everything was dark and wild with a hint of the supernatural that she was certain even the humans in the room could sense.

"This certainly is a fitting backdrop for tonight's events," Klaus hummed and watched the glittering confetti fall from the ceiling. It clung to the heads of guests, acrobats and dancers.

She nodded her agreement and turned her attention towards a woman as she entered the party from the other side of the crowd. Her vintage beaded dress and angel wings made her stand out from the crowd; she looked very much like a scrumptious snack for any vampire in the room, and there were many.

* * *

"Come on," Caroline muttered.

Her foot jiggled impatiently as if the motion might make the plane move any faster. She really hated airport delays. They were incredibly annoying.

 


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO.

Elena sat curled on a couch holding a novel. She wasn't sure why she was bothering with the book since she had read the same line again and again: 'it is a truth universally acknowledged…'

She had read the line so many times that it had ceased to have any meaning. She had begun mentally filling in the rest of the sentence.

'It is a universally acknowledged that babies the size of lemons must throw their mommy's hormones out of whack.'

'It is a truth universally acknowledged that a hybrid in possession of a doppelganger must be in want of a hybrid army.'

"Good book?" Hayley's voice broke through Elena's musing.

"It is a truth universally acknowledged that I can't get past the first sentence," she closed the book and dropped it on the coffee table. The comment brought a soft laugh from Hayley. "My mind's elsewhere. Can I ask you something?"

Hayley closed her book and inhaled slowly before nodding.

"I know why I came down here, but I'm curious why you did." Elena curled her fingers around her ankle. "Last I checked you were helping hybrids in Mystic Falls. What prompted you to make the trip to New Orleans?"

"Would you believe that was Klaus?" Hayley leaned back in her chair. "Ever since my adoptive parents kicked me out I've been looking for my birth family."

"How was that going?" Elena tilted her head.

"Not great," she sighed, "the records I managed to find were vague at best, and I had all but given up. Then I spent the night with Klaus."

Elena's brows furrowed.

"I've got a birthmark," Hayley gestured towards her shoulder, "and Klaus saw it, and recognized it. Apparently it's passed to every member of a certain family of werewolves in the region. He may have used the words werewolf royalty."

"Seems like someone like that would be easy to find," Elena frowned.

"They're not. I got a tip from some witches that sent me out to the Bayou, but it was trap. That's how they caught me and used me to bring Klaus and eventually Elijah to town." Hayley crossed her arms and shivered. She could still remember the way her skin had crawled when they cast their spells. "Someone lied to me."

Elena bit her bottom lip.

"Damon and Stefan once told me that the best lies were rooted in the truth," she straightened up and met Hayley's eyes. "Klaus wouldn't have lied to you. I can't think of any reason he'd want to manipulate you, but the witches would have. They might know why werewolves are banned in the Quarter."

"I don't think I'd trust their answers," Hayley scoffed.

"Fair enough," Elena sighed. She reached for her cell phone when it started to ring. "Hello?"

_"Hey 'Lena."_

"Bonnie," she swung her legs around so her feet were on the floor, "what's up?"

* * *

Bonnie stared at the map laid out on her table. She'd had to print out a second one from the computer when the first one burst into flames.

"I tried two different locator spells, and they gave me a lot of locations."

_"A lot?"_

"Yeah," she lifted the antique silver, "I tried the dagger first because I figured whoever was cloaking him probably wasn't cloaking the dagger but him specifically and that gave me three spots."

_"What about my blood?"_

"Tried that," she stood from the table. "Your blood gave me even more. I'm assuming the spell located everyone your babies are related to."

She lifted the new map that she had printed. Several locations were circled in red marker.

"I cross referenced with the results from the dagger and marked them for you on a map. I'm going to picture and send it to you."

_"How many places are circled?"_

"Seven," Bonnie laid out the map on a flat surface. "A couple of them are side by side, so you can probably rule them out."

_"Thank you Bonnie. What about the other thing?"_

"I'm going to work on that next," she glanced at the rope. "It looks simple but Kol's note says it takes a lot of power and concentration so it might take me some time. Tell Hayley to sit tight."

* * *

"Bonnie's going to work on the unlinking spell next." Elena hung up her phone.

"She found him?" Hayley sat forward in her chair.

"Maybe," Elena nodded. "Is there a computer around here?"

She followed Hayley into a study and took a seat at the desk. A few clicks brought up her e-mail and the scanned image from Bonnie. She sent it to Klaus' printer and snagged the paper.

"That's a lot of dots," Hayley turned over the map of the Quarter.

"Process of elimination," Elena reached for a pen.

"That's the mansion," Hayley pointed to two spots outside of the French Quarter.

"You, me, and our mystical miracle babies," Elena crossed out the dots. She nodded to another two spots near the heart of the Quarter, and one in Lafayette cemetery. "I think we can rule these ones out too. Klaus and Rebekah are together at the party and Kol's with the witch in the cemetery."

"That still leaves two spots," Hayley frowned.

"One in the French Quarter and one in the Bayou," Elena pulled her hair into a high ponytail.

Hayley tilted her head and frowned at the sudden determination in Elena's eyes. She knew without asking that the brunette was planning a midnight excursion.

"I'll go with you," she started towards the door.

"No," Elena moved and blocked her path.

"I want Elijah found as much as you do," she crossed her arms. "He was the first one to actually give a damn about what happened to me when I got to town."

"You might not believe me Hayley, but I care too," she sighed, "and it's because I care that I'm telling you to stay here. You're a werewolf and its open season in New Orleans; you have been banned from the French Quarter."

"If those witches get hold of you they'll…" Hayley trailed off leaving it unsaid.

"They won't do anything to me because they don't know me," Elena smiled softly. "Kol was careful to keep me hidden that one time I went in to town, and in this town the only people who know me are the Originals and you. I'm nobody here. I'm not a doppelganger, I'm not a pawn to be used; I'm just a girl."

She said the words again in her head and felt some of the weight on her shoulders lift at the thought. She knew she would never be ordinary, but the idea that she could pretend for even a few moments was nice.

She could be invisible.

"That's assuming nobody in town knows Katherine."

"What are the odds that Katherine would have ever come to a town that Klaus once called home?" Elena cocked her head and tried to calculate the chances.

"It's unlikely," Hayley agreed reluctantly. "I'm just supposed to sit here alone then? I can already hear the earful I'll get for letting you go in town alone."

"It's got to be better than the one you'll get for coming with me," Elena managed a small smile. "Will you call Kol and tell him where I've gone?"

"How exactly are you planning to get there?" Hayley followed her into the kitchen and outside to the garage.

"I thought I'd commandeer a car," she opened a box along the wall. Inside the compartment was a row of keys. She picked up a set at random and clicked the lock. A black BMW chirped in darkened space.

Elena pressed a button by the box and heard the garage door open.

Hayley followed the sound and shook her head when she saw the car. She leaned over when Elena got inside and chewed her cheek.

"What?" Elena inserted the key and heard the car come to life with a gentle purr.

"Just…" Hayley stepped back so she could close the door, "… be careful."

Elena nodded.

Hayley watched her go and stood staring down the gravel driveway for a moment before pressing the button to close the door and moving back towards the house, but she wasn't quite ready to return to the spacious rooms.

Circling around the back of the house she approached the pool and watched the light refract off the surface of the water. She was about to reach into her pocket for her cell phone when she heard a twig snapped behind her. Spinning around she took a few steps towards the sound and froze.

Her eyes locked on the glowing yellow gaze of the wolf. Most people in her position would have been afraid, but the terror didn't take hold; instead she was filled with curiosity. If not for the reflection of the half-moon in the pool she might have thought she was staring into the eyes of a fellow werewolf. She supposed it could have been a hybrid, but as far as she knew Klaus hadn't called them forth from Mystic Falls, and none of the ones that had broken their curse knew of her condition or location; at least she didn't think they did, but there was something intelligent in the animal's eyes, something almost human.

"You're not supposed to be out here," a firm voice sounded behind her.

Hayley's heart leapt into her throat at the sound. She turned quickly and eyed the woman suspiciously.

"Who are you?" Her muscles tensed ready to sprint for the cover of the trees at the slightest provocation.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you."

Hayley's eyes narrowed as the woman went from commanding to friendly.

"I'm Sabine," she skirted around the pool. "We actually met once, briefly," she smiled. "I'm a friend of Sophie's."

Her eyes flickered over the woman's dark skin and somber clothes. Several beaded necklaces hung from her throat, one of the chains was pulled taut by the weight of a yellow

"You're one of the witches."

Sabine nodded.

"What are you doing here?" Hayley thought of Elena now halfway to the Quarter, if not in it, and relaxed marginally; she had left the house in the nick of time.

"Sophie asked me to come and keep you company while everyone was out," Sabine nodded to the empty space behind Hayley where the wolf had once stood. "It's drawn to you."

Hayley glanced over her shoulder to the dark grass.

"You and Klaus made something really special," Sabine smiled serenely when Hayley turned back around.

"You sound like Elijah," she scoffed. "He thinks the baby is going to make us one big happy family, but now he's gone, and I don't even know what  _it_ is." Boy, girl, vampire: the list ran through her head.

"I can find out for you if you like," Sabine tilted her head, "if it's a boy or girl, I mean."

"I thought you couldn't practice magic," Hayley's eyes narrowed. Her phone weighed heavily in her back pocket.

"It's not magic," Sabine shook her head, "just an old trick my grandmother taught me. Are you interested? Come on," she grinned, "you've got to be a little curious."

Curious was one word that could describe her state of mind. She bit her bottom lip and nodded once following Sabine into the house while pulling out her cell phone and sending a text to Kol.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm trying to work up a slow friendship between Elena and Hayley. At this point they don't particularly like each other, but they recognize they are in the same situation. I'd like to think that if it came down to it and Elena was in trouble Hayley would help, but they've got some ground to cover.
> 
> I always adore reviews.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As per usual I do not own TVD or TO. If I did certain pairings would most definitely be canon.

Elena stepped out of the car after parking along the curb and pocketed the keys. By her estimate she was half a dozen streets from the Abattoir where the swanky gala was taking place. She could hear the distant strains of music.

She thought she might have heard screams and fireworks somewhere behind her, but she ignored it and unfolded the paper in her hand.

She marked her place on the map and located the area that had been circled. She thought she was going to have to check several buildings and stores, but there was only one building occupying the area.

The red bricks of the church loomed over her head in the light from the streetlamps. She approached slowly and stepped up. Rebekah had mentioned shutters on the windows of Davina's room, and there were shutters on the windows of the attic.

She had only planned to confirm the location and then wait for Kol to come and help, but her feet suddenly seemed to have a mind of their own. Rationalizing that he wouldn't be far behind she allowed herself to push open the doors.

Her breath caught in her throat when she stepped in the sanctuary. Papers, glass, and candles littered the floor. Turning to the right she saw the faintest traces of blood spattering the walls. The sight made her throat close up with sobs.

Choking them down, she took a deep breath and kept walking up the center aisle. She had gotten a look at the basic architecture of the building and knew the stairs to the attic had to be somewhere near the sanctuary.

Part of her was expecting Kol to find her before she found the stairs, but ten minutes later when her fingers curled around the rail he still wasn't there.

At the very top of the stairs there was a narrow hall that led to a single door. It was ajar so she approached slowly.

She'd had every intention of waiting outside and calling Kol to find out what was taking so long, but the sound of a pained cry and someone falling sent her running into the room.

She caught the young girl under the arms before she could keel over.

Elena gasped when her body was propelled across the room. Her spine collided with the curved lid of a mahogany casket hard enough to rattle her teeth. Instinctively her hands fell to her abdomen.

The girl who she took to be Davina froze. Her hand was outstretched as if to physically toss Elena around the room a little bit before throwing her out, but her eyes were on the swell of her stomach.

Elena blinked against the sudden onslaught of drowsiness. Her limbs began to relax, and despite her efforts to keep her eyes open the fluttered shut.

Davina hurried forward and caught the brunette lowering her onto the floor alongside the coffin. Her hands flattened on either side of the woman's swollen stomach as she felt frantically with her magic.

Her relieved sigh filled the cluttered attic bedroom. The bump hadn't harmed the woman's child.

Davina frowned when she felt a second child and something else: magic. There was something different about the children in the brunette's womb; it was familiar, like something she had felt before. It took her a moment to place the power she felt swirling around, but when she did her eyes snapped up to the closed lid of the coffin.

"That's not…"

She bit her bottom lip and opened the lid with a wave of her fingers. She traced the prominent veins on his grey skin with her eyes before placing the tips of her fingers on his cheek. Davina pressed the palm of her other hand back to the brunette's abdomen and closed her eyes.

"… possible…" she muttered under her breath.

* * *

The tips of her fingers pressed into the satin lining of the casket. Her eyes were locked on his grey face and only looked up when the door opened.

"You're okay," she jumped to her feet and ran. Her arms locked around his neck in a tight hug. "I was so worried."

"Thank you," Marcel said. He let her go and held her shoulders. "Whatever you did, I felt it, and it helped me."

Her expression darkened.

"It was the old ones wasn't it?"

"Actually," Marcel shook his head with a small laugh, "Klaus is the one that saved me tonight. I'm gonna make things right with us, starting by giving his brother back."

"What?" Davina frowned. She shook her head. "No!"

He gave her a look.

"Davina…"

"No," she shook her head harder. "You said they were dangerous. I won't give him back until I know how to kill them."

_I won't give them back until I find out what happened._

Her tone of voice brokered no argument. She wouldn't give him up yet.

When Marcel was gone she blew out a candle and turned to the previously empty bed. Tilting her head she watched the even breaths as the woman's chest rose and fell.

Her initial plan had been to remove the woman's memory of finding the attic and get Marcel to take her away, but she couldn't do that. He had just shown her that he wanted to return Elijah.

She was going to need both of them to find out how the forming children had come to be.

* * *

Klaus paused in the doorway before walking into the study where Hayley was typing on a laptop. Several old books covered the surface of the desk.

"I thought you might like to know that Elijah will be returning to us."

"Congratulations," she didn't look away from the screen, "I guess being diabolical has its perks."

"At times," Klaus smirked. He tilted his head and watched her stony expression. He could understand Elena's state of mind, but Hayley remained a mystery. "You hardly know him, and yet you miss him. What is it about my brother that always inspires such instant admiration?"

Hayley paused and blinked at the keyboard. She hesitated before glancing at him.

"He was kind to me."

He watched her for a moment before turning to leave. He paused when her voice rose once more, but he didn't turn back.

"I learned something today," she smiled at his back, "I think it's a girl."

The corner of his mouth lifted in a smile when he left the room.

"You look cheery," Kol commented when he stepped inside.

"Who'd you kill?" Caroline tilted her head. As a vampire it often took longer for her to tire, but after a day full of air travel she was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to curl up in a ball and sleep until noon.

"I'm not that happy, love," he chuckled. "Where have you been?"

"Mystic Falls," she sighed, "and most recently an airplane that refused to take off."

"Sorry, darling," Kol shrugged, "I can't account for air traffic."

Kol walked around them and into the study to frown at the old books on the desk.

"Hey," he came to stand in front of her.

"Hey," Hayley looked up. A line appeared between her brows as she looked around him as if expecting someone else. "Where's Elena?"

"Shouldn't you be telling me that?" He smirked. His amusement fell when he realized she wasn't joking. "Hayley?"

"I messaged you," she straightened up. "Bonnie called with a possible location. Elena went to check it out."

He pulled his phone from his pocket and found no missed messages. He searched and searched but couldn't find the message.

"Where?"

He was gone when she told him the street.

He came to a stop along the empty street and inhaled deeply. There was no sign of her, no trace of her lavender shampoo. He walked the length of the block twice looking for a sign of her or the car she had taken to get there.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O_o
> 
> Let me know your thoughts.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO or Sabrina the Teenage Witch (I just saw an opportunity and had to take it.)

"You let her go?" Caroline shrieked.

"What was I supposed to do," Hayley held up her hands, "body block her? Should I have locked her in her room, or tied her down?"

"You could have talked her into staying put until one of us got back," Kol grumbled.

"It's not like people are out gunning for her head on a platter," Hayley rolled her eyes. "Relax, she probably checked out the first location and found nothing, so she went to the second one in the Bayou."

"Elijah's not in the Bayou," Kol sighed. "That's where I hid the daggers."

"You took the daggers?" Klaus turned on his brother.

"And placed them in a spot you won't find," he rolled his eyes. "Can we focus on the problem at hand, please? Elena is missing."

"I'm sure she's fine."

"Fine," Caroline scoffed. "Elena is carrying miracle children in a town where witches have no problem with the concept of blackmail. Add to that the fact that she's a doppelganger and she is screwed."

"What does being a doppelganger have to do with it?" Hayley cocked an eyebrow.

"How much do you know about them?" Klaus tilted his head. "Doppelgangers are mystically recurring."

"Their blood is a potent ingredient for any spell," Kol sighed.

"Someone finds out what she is and they will view her as everyone else has ever viewed her," Caroline paced the length of a bookshelf.

"How exactly do people view her?" Hayley looked from the furious blonde to the Original siblings.

"A pawn…"

"A tool…"

Caroline cut off the brothers with a glare.

"An object," she snapped. "Everyone views her as something to possess, control, or use." She gave Klaus a pointed look.

"I personally believe I gave her a lot of freedom," he cleared his throat.

"You had her under hybrid guard," Kol leaned against the wall, "told her she would have children, and used her blood to make your little army."

Hayley fell silent as Elena's earlier words echoed in her head:  _'I'm nobody here… just a girl'_. How many people had gone after her, gotten close to her, because of what she was?

"She'll be fine," she murmured, more to convince herself than anyone else.

Caroline reached for her ringing cell phone and pressed it to her ear.

"Talk to me Bonnie."

_"I can't find her. It's like when I tried to find Elijah the first time."_

"Did you use her blood?"

_"Yeah, and the dagger as well, but I'm not getting anything from either of them. Whatever witch has Elijah is now hiding him from a magical rescue."_

"Then I suppose it's a good thing Marcel has agreed to return Elijah to us," Klaus sighed.

Kol fixed him with a look.

"Do you see him here? Marcel's not giving him back, and now he's got Elena. If he's ever seen a picture of Katerina he will figure out what Elena is. He'll find some way to use her."

"Marcel learned many things from me," Klaus shook his head, "but his integrity came from Elijah. He gave his word that he would return Elijah to us, and I have faith that he will."

"Unless he's not the one in charge," Rebekah frowned. "According to Bonnie Elijah and Elena are both being cloaked."

"Maybe Davina the teenage witch isn't so willing to let him go," Caroline hung up the phone. "Bonnie's going to send me the map again. At the very least we can check the original spots she found."

* * *

Her eyelids fluttered open slowly. The first thing she saw was the gauzy material of a canopy, the kind that she would have seen gracing the bed of a princess in a story book. The second thing she saw was vaulted ceilings, unfinished with wood beams exposed in the flickering candlelight.

She pushed herself up on her elbows, but fell back when her head swam. She pressed her hands to her brow and rolled over as a wave of nausea raced through her. Her fingers curled around the bucket pressed into her hands just before she heaved.

When she was done being sick she dropped the bucket with a groan and sat up slowly.

"Here."

Elena opened her eyes and glared at the girl holding out a glass of water.

"You need to rehydrate," she pressed the glass into Elena's hand.

"You're Davina," she took the cup and sipped the cool water. The liquid soothed the burn in her throat, and helped to settle her stomach.

"You know my name?" Davina frowned. She had never seen the other brunette before in her life.

"A lot of people are looking for you," Elena put the glass on a nightstand. "What did you do to me?"

"A sleeping spell," Davina regarded her warily. "I was going to throw you out, but then…" she looked pointedly at Elena's abdomen. "What's your name?"

"Elena," she scooted back against the pillows; she didn't trust her legs to support her weight.

"What are you doing here, Elena?" Davina looked her up and down.

"You've got someone very important to me in this room," she crossed her arms.

"Yeah," Davina's eyes flickered to the closed coffin: "the father of your children." She saw Elena pale when she looked back.

"How do you know that?" Elena pressed her hands to her stomach protectively.

"I thought I hurt you when I pushed you," she looked over the pregnant brunette. "I wanted to make sure your babies were fine, they are by the way, but when I checked I felt what they are. It should have been impossible."

"I'm well aware of that," Elena swallowed. She frowned at Davina; the girl didn't look shocked at all. "So far nobody's been able to tell me how."

"That was before you ran into my room," Davina tilted her head. "Why did you do that?"

"I thought you were hurt," she slowly lowered her hands. If Davina had wanted to harm her she would have done it by now. "How long have I been here?"

"It's morning," Davina nodded to the windows. The tiniest slivers of daylight were filtering through the small cracks between the boards.

"Why don't you open a window?"

"I can't," Davina stood up and crossed her arms, "someone could see me and come after me."

Elena watched the way Davina hugged herself. It was a motion she knew well.

"You're scared," she stood slowly. "What could someone as powerful as you have to be afraid of? Why are you hiding?"

"As if you don't already know?" Davina shook her head.

"I don't," Elena frowned.

Davina met her earnest eyes and bit her bottom lip. She had been certain at first that Elena had come for her, but then she had realized her connection to the Original. Then when she had known her name she had thought the woman must be working with the witches in some sort of capacity, but there was nothing but honesty in her eyes.

"If you're lying to me…"

"I'm not," Elena took a small step towards her.

"The witches want to kill me, so they can finish their spell," Davina's jaw ticked. "I'm their blood sacrifice."

"I know what that's like," Elena whispered. "Klaus used me to break his curse. I should have died."

"You're still here," Davina's brows lowered.

"My uncle gave his life for mine," Elena blinked. She could still remember the funeral and laying roses on the graves of Jenna and John.

Her eyes darted to the casket. Elena's fingers itched to open the lid and pull the dagger from his chest, but she got the feeling that if she were to try Davina would put her out again. Her brows shut up suddenly as she turned back to look at the young witch and pressed her palm to her abdomen.

"You know how?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I see two possibilities here: soulmates or doppelganger. Which should it be?


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do not own TVD or TO.
> 
> Turns out I wasn't actually better yet. It was a brief reprieve before an ear infection got me. That's passing out of my system now, but it made sitting at the computer and typing impossible because I couldn't concentrate on the story long enough. Instead I made very confusing notes and created some gif sets over on tumblr.

"You know?" Elena's eyes darted down to her swollen stomach.

Her heart thundered beneath her rib cage with a mix of fear and anticipation. She had wanted to know since accepting the truth, it would certainly make explaining the situation to him easier, but what exactly would she be learning in the next few moments?

"I know," Davina nodded.

* * *

"Marcel," he clapped him on the shoulder, "I wonder if you might be of assistance?"

He saw the hesitation in the younger vampire's eyes.

"That depends on what you need," Marcel spun on his stool. His eyes flickered over Klaus' face. "If you're looking for your brother it's gonna take me a little time to get him back to you. I wasn't keeping him here in the compound."

"That's not it," he waved one hand dismissively while giving him a pointed look. "I trust my brother will be returned to me with all haste."

"Then what can I do for you in the meantime?"

"I've lost a friend of mine," Klaus' mouth lifted in a small smirk.

"I'd hardly classify the two of you as friends," Caroline strode into the darkened bar. "Hello Marcel."

"Very well, sweetheart," he acknowledged her with a nod, "I've lost the friend of a friend. She likes to wander you see," he turned back to Marcel, "and I'm afraid she's wandered off; didn't return home last night."

"I take it this is your friend," Marcel's eyes flickered to Caroline.

"Elena," she nodded. Reaching into her pocket she pulled out her cell phone and pulled up a picture from a few months before. "This is her."

Marcel took the phone and stared at the brunette. There was something familiar in her features.

"We were hoping you or one of your nightwalkers had seen her," Klaus tilted his head. He saw the brief flicker of recognition enter Marcel's eyes, but it was distant. Centuries before he had possessed a few sketches of Katerina that he used to try and find her; Marcel might have seen her face once as a child.

"She looks familiar, but I can't say I've seen her anywhere," he glanced up and called over another vampire. "Diego, have you seen this woman?"

He glanced at the phone and shook his head.

"Keep an eye out for her," Marcel passed the phone back to Caroline.

"That's it?" Caroline frowned.

"Like I said: I haven't seen her," Marcel shook his head, "but I'll keep an eye out for you."

"Thanks," Caroline spun on her heel.

Marcel watched her go for a moment longer than necessary before turning to Klaus. His eyes narrowed as he tilted his head to regard his sire.

"I find it hard to believe you're putting in an effort to find someone who's not even a friend." He cocked an eyebrow.

"We have our ups and downs," Klaus shrugged, "but she's very important to me. Let me know if you see her. I'll be waiting for your call."

* * *

She knelt beside the coffin as the lid swung open. Her breath caught in her throat when she saw him. She had hoped to never see him like that again: lifeless and grey. She paused with her hand over the dagger and glanced up through her lashes at Davina.

"You're not going to cast another spell on me are you?"

She shook her head. Truthfully she wasn't sure about her decision to let Elena remove the dagger, but there were some things that he needed to know, and she felt fairly confident that she could put the ancient vampire back down if need be.

"You've got some news that really can't wait that long," she gave a pointed look to Elena's stomach.

* * *

It was always a slow process, returning to himself. There was no feeling worse than that of being trapped within his body.

The first thing he became aware of was the persistent burn in the back of his throat; it increased in intensity as his hearing returned. Four heartbeats echoed in the enclosed space; three within arm's reach.

His gums ached, teeth itching to tear free and sink into warm flesh, but he swallowed down that desire when his eyes snapped open.

"Elijah," her voice was small when she saw he was awake.

"Elena," he rasped, voice rusty from disuse, "what…"

He took in her appearance as he slowly sat up. Her hair was shorter and fuller, her skin appeared to glow. He had barely straightened up when she threw her arms around his neck. He stiffened for a moment, afraid his hunger would win out, before returning her embrace.

He could smell the rich blood rushing beneath her olive skin and the soft lavender from her shampoo. One of the heart beats he had heard earlier came from behind him, but three appeared to be located in his arms. Swallowing he bit his cheek and ran his tongue along his teeth before pulling back a few inches.

Glancing over his shoulder he saw a young girl in a chair. Her porcelain features, long brown hair and white dress created the illusion of innocence, but there was something dangerous in the set of her mouth; something angry in her eyes. She was the only other person in the room.

"Elena…" he cleared his throat and looked down. He felt his eyes widen when they reached her abdomen. "How long was I…?"

"Daggered?" She managed a small laugh that was closer to a sob and blinked back a wave of tears.

He nodded. She was still human and didn't look much older than when he had left her home in Mystic Falls, but Tatia hadn't looked much older than Elena when she died and she had been twenty-seven; Petrovas aged remarkably well.

"How long was it after you left Mystic Falls before Klaus…?" She stopped before she could choke on the words.

"Three days," he remembered it vividly. He had still been able to smell her under his skin when his brother had forced the ash-dipped blade into his heart.

"Then it's been about three months," she smiled.

"Three… but…" his eyes fell to her stomach. She was not the type of woman who slept around, but the evidence was before him.

It was almost amusing watching him flounder for words. She had never seen the noble Original at a loss for what to say; he always seemed to have something on the tip of his tongue. Part of her wanted to let him flounder for a second longer but she had a feeling she knew what thoughts were running through his head and she didn't like him thinking that. She was not like Katherine; the night she had spent with him meant the world to her.

"One of the many benefits of doppelganger blood," she tried to smile. "Just one more reason for vampires to come after me," her laugh was bitter. She knew they had done it together but the conception was her fault; he had hesitated to bite her during the height of passion, but she had told him it was okay. She had exposed her neck and all but begged him to do it.

"Elena," he looked up from the dual heart beats emanating from deep in her body, "are these children… are they mine?"

"You'd think I would have put more thought into how I'd say that," she nodded, "but I just had that bomb shell dropped on me." Her hands started gesturing as her voice took on a higher quality. "Kol says it's happened before, but he never saw the women. If he had he could have told me it was a doppelganger thing. There were two of them, but he never saw them because they were dead by the time Kol got there and –"

"Elena," he cut off her rambling. He brought his hands up and held the sides of her face. He was starved, desperate for blood, and she had unloaded a lot of information but in spite of her fast voice and gesturing hands her heart had remained steady.

"Sorry," she swallowed, "I'm babbling."

"I noticed," he rubbed his thumb over her smooth cheek.

His skin was dry against her face but she couldn't bring herself to care. The rough stroke of his thumb was the best thing she had felt in weeks.

"You need blood," she held his wrist in place.

His eyes flickered over her face before glancing back to the chair again.

"Considering my only options are a child and you," he got to his feet slowly, "I'll have to wait."

"I'm not a child," the girl piped up. She crossed her arms and eyed his grey skin, not missing the way his eyes darted to her neck. "You don't look good."

"Well," Elijah gave her a small smile, "it was only a short time ago that I had a mystical dagger embedded in my chest, so I'd say I'm holding myself together quite well." He paused and tilted his head. "Who are you?"

"Davina," she stood from her chair.

"New Orleans is at war," Elena pushed her hair behind her ear.

"I was aware of that," he nodded. "The witches took…" he trailed off before he could reveal anything. If Elena was in town and in contact with Kol she likely already knew about Hayley and the baby, but it was unlikely that Davina did and her allegiance was still unknown.

"Did you know it's over me?" Davina swallowed.

"You?" Elijah frowned, but before he could question anything footsteps sounded outside the door.

The wood flew inwards to crash against the wall.

Elijah and Elena caught only the briefest glimpse of the man on the other side before Davina threw up her hands.

* * *

"You think this is the right place?" Kol eyed the church. He was intimately familiar with the grounds, having slaughtered the parishioners nearly a century before.

"You said yourself the Bayou was out of the question," Rebekah pointed to the shuttered windows above their heads and nodded.

Inside the morning sun was all but obliterated in the darkened sanctuary. Through the gloom they spotted a priest cleaning the mess that had settled over the room; he glanced up at them before turning back to his task.

"The church is closed; if you want your horror fix go and take a ghost tour."

"Can't say I care much for ghosts," Kol hummed.

"We are, however, fascinated by window shutters," Rebekah held her hands behind her back.

"The windows on your attic have shutters," Kol finished.

"Window shutters?" The man straightened up and fixed them with a sceptical look. "You're interested in window shutters?"

"It's our current obsession in life," Rebekah smiled sweetly. Her eyes flickered to the walls where an all too familiar sight greeted her. "What's your name?"

"Father Kieran," he approached the pair, "and you are?"

"Curious," Kol followed his sister's eyes to the red stain on the wall. He had seen a similar stain the last time he had been in the church; it had glistened in the flickering candle light. The last time he checked there weren't many people willing to spill blood in a church. "What happened here?"

They could practically feel the deep sigh as it passed through the priest's lips.

"St. Anne's used to be the heart of the neighborhood, but it's been abandoned since the night of the massacre." His eyes took on a haunted look when he turned to stare at an area in front of the wall; in his mind he saw the metallic glint of the scythe as it was drawn across a throat, the red stain spreading over the pristine seminary gown. "Nine students were killed… by one of their own," he cleared his throat and turned back to them. He pointed to the floor. "You're standing on blood."

"You'll find we're not squeamish," Rebekah held back her scoff.

"Where's the attic?"

"Like I said," Kieran's eyes hardened. "The church is closed."

Rebekah rolled her eyes before flashing across the five feet separating them. She placed her hand on his chest and stared into his eyes as she compelled him.

"Where is the attic?"

"Past the sacristy, up the stairs," he gulped.

"Thank you," Kol smirked as he passed them.

"Now forget we were ever here," Rebekah finished. She circled around him and followed Kol through the sanctuary. When she stepped onto the stairs she heard the priest leaving the church.

If there had been any doubt in her mind that she was in the right place it flew from her head when Kol flew past her. He was still picking himself up when she walked around them towards the anxious voice.

"Was that necessary?"

"Now, now, love," Rebekah crossed her arms at the threshold, "a little throwing about won't hurt him. In fact," her eyes found Davina, "I think you should toss him around a bit..." the breath stilled in her lungs when she saw her brother standing alongside the coffin. "Elijah?"

"Sister," he greeted. He had every intention of addressing her further when she was thrown backwards by a gust of wind.

Elena's eyes widened when Rebekah disappeared from the door. Davina crossed the room in quick strides and went through the door. She heard a series of thumps when she moved towards the door, but an invisible barrier stopped her from exiting the room.

Elijah joined her at the door and pressed his palm against the clear space. His eyes narrowed when Davina returned a moment later.

"What is this, Davina?"

"Did you think I was just going to let you go?" She stepped back into her bedroom. "I hardly know you and I don't trust you."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave a review and let me know your thoughts on the story so far.
> 
> So next on my roster is Addicted followed by SAF.


	13. Chapter 13

"So what?" Elena frowned. "You're going to keep us in here?"

"I can't let you go so you can tell the witches where to find me." Davina crossed her arms.

"You let Kol and Rebekah go," Elijah pointed out.

"They'll wake up in a few hours knowing only that they saw you; they won't remember where." Her eyes flickered between them. "What were they doing here?"

"Probably looking for me," Elena felt heat creep into her cheeks. She should have waited for Kol to get back, but the thought of potentially finding him had overtaken her and then she hadn't been able to stop herself from running in to help when she thought Davina was in trouble. "A friend of mine did a locator spell to try and find Elijah. The church was one of the locations she came back with."

"Miss Bennett?" Elijah guessed.

"Kol sent her one of the daggers and a bag of my blood," Elena nodded, "and she located every Mikaelson in New Orleans." She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a slip of paper.

"Some of these are crossed out," Davina eyed the picture.

"Process of elimination," Elena bit her bottom lip. "I was at the house with her, and together we located everyone we knew."

Elijah didn't need to ask who she had worked with.

The raucous Kol had made with the door told him she had garnered the full protection of his youngest brother and the grudging protection of his sister. There was no way either of them would have let her journey into the city alone knowing who she was and whose children she carried, but Hayley probably wouldn't have been concerned about anyone targeting Elena. That, or she had been unable to stop Elena from leaving the mansion; it wasn't like Hayley could walk into the French Quarter herself.

"Why is it you're hiding from the witches, Davina?" Elijah frowned. He swallowed and ran his tongue over the roof of his dry mouth.

"They want to complete the Harvest," Davina turned her attention to a small table covered in drawings. She picked up a small paintbrush and twirled it between her fingers as she talked. "They had us all preparing for months before four of us were chosen. They said it would be an honour."

Davina balanced the brush on the tip of her finger and exhaled slowly, watching the thin wood tip back and forth in an unseen wind while remaining in place. Ever since the night in the cemetery her emotions had been in the same state as the brush; she was constantly being pushed back and forth from one emotional extreme to the other, but she didn't dare let her emotions take over completely. If the brush were to fall there would be a horrible mess to clean up: paint, glass, or blood.

She breathed slowly to try and control herself. The last thing she wanted was to have an emotional outburst with a pregnant woman in the room.

"They said our participation would bring our family health, strength… that we'd forever be celebrated as saviours of the community." The brush tipped violently to the left.

Elena bit her bottom lip and took a subconscious step closer to Elijah; her breath came a little easier when she felt his hand on the small of her back. The tips of his fingers ghosted over her hip and helped her find her voice.

"What is the Harvest, Davina?" Elena frowned at the brush when Davina turned back around.

"It's a ritual to strengthen the community's tie to the ancestors," Davina inhaled. Her voice was low when she looked up and met their eyes. A small part of her said it was foolish to tell them everything, but it had been a long time since she'd had someone to talk to and there was something about Elena that made her comfortable.

"The witches are liars," she exhaled in a rush. "All they wanted was more power, and now they're running out of time."

"What do you mean?" Elijah's eyes narrowed.

"After the Harvest comes the Reaping," she tilted her head. "If they don't complete the Harvest there won't be a Reaping. They're desperate because if they don't complete it they'll start to lose their power and eventually cease to be witches all together."

"And what does it take to complete the ritual?" Elijah slid his fingers back and forth over Elena's hip; tiny jolts of energy ran up his arm at the contact.

Elena took him by surprise by being the one to answer.

"She has to die."

* * *

Marcel strode into the church with a little more force than was strictly necessary and sauntered down the aisle towards Kieran. He tilted his head when he got close to the priest and looked down to the floor.

"Well, well, well," he smirked, "what do we have here?"

"Looks like an Original to me," Diego cocked an eyebrow.

"Two," Marcel's eyes found Kol. A mixture of anger and fear pierced his heart; a by-product of his childhood and a rendition of Macbeth better suited to nightmares.

"I don't really care what they are," Kieran glared at Marcel. "I want them out of here."

"I don't have the means to hold an Original, much less two of them," Marcel shook his head.

"I thought you were already holding one," Diego frowned.

"He came into my possession in a different fashion," Marcel pointed to the unconscious vampires on the floor, "these two will be awake soon enough."

"Klaus doesn't need to know that."

* * *

"Nobody's checked in yet?" Caroline twisted slightly to squeeze between the sweaty bodies of a tour group. She cringed at the smell of rising body odor and focused her attention on Hayley.

_"I've heard nothing. You're the first to call."_

"How long does it take to search a church?" She pushed her hair behind her ear.

_"I caught a glimpse of it the night I was in town. It's not exactly small."_

"Fair point," Caroline dipped into an alley and leaned against the cool bricks. "Call me if they get back?"

_"Sure."_

She hung up the phone when Klaus joined her. There was a slight frown on his face when he answered his own cell phone.

"Marcellus."

_"You won't believe who I found skulking around places they don't belong."_

"I do despise guessing games," Klaus braced his arm against the bricks, "so why don't you just tell me."

_"The sister I asked you to keep in line…"_

"I told you once that I'd have better luck of draining the Mississippi with a straw."

Caroline covered her mouth with her hand to stifle her laugh.

_"That's becoming increasingly clear."_

She could hear the short laugh on the other end of the line and what sounded like something heavy being dragged.

_"Your brother, though… I had no idea he was in town. So nice of you to tell me."_

"You know how siblings are," Klaus smirked, "can't take them anywhere. And Kol's always had a mind of his own. He comes and goes as he pleases. I didn't think to mention it because I figured he'd tire of New Orleans and be long gone before you caught wind of him. Why worry your nightwalkers with news of a fourth Original in the city limits?"

_"Now, you see, the thing is word has already spread."_

Caroline saw when something dark passed through Klaus' eyes and made a small wager with herself about how much time Marcel had left to live. She could hear the threat so clear in his voice.

_"Obviously I can't give him back now."_

"Kol and Rebekah will be let go," Klaus pressed a finger to Caroline's lips when it looked like she was going to protest.

She glared at him.

_"The moment they wake up and forget what they know they'll be released from the compound."_

"Wonderful," Klaus smiled tightly. "I'll pick them up in a few hours."

Caroline shoved his hand away when he hung up the phone.

"What about Elijah?"

"Kol and Rebekah were searching the final location for Elena. The fact that they are now in the possession of Marcel tells me a certain teenage witch might be in residence." He offered her an arm and stepped out onto the street in the direction of the church. "Call the Bennett witch and see if she's made progress in unlinking Hayley."

* * *

"What do you mean she has to die?" Elijah's eyes snapped from Elena to Davina. "You have to die?"

"That's the whole Harvest part," Davina shrugged. She caught the paintbrush against her palm. "They said they were going to put us in a state of… peaceful limbo."

She bent her knees and perched on the small white chair.

"It was part of the offering," she toyed with the hem of her skirt. "Later at the Reaping we were to be reborn. I got as far as limbo, so the Harvest isn't complete. That's why all the witches are freaking out."

 _And manipulating an Original by threatening the life of an unborn child,_ Elena glanced over her shoulder to Elijah.

"The Reaping is around the corner and if they don't finish the Harvest all of their magic will drain away. I just have to wait it out." Davina's eyes lit up. "I'll be free and normal."

"You really want to be normal?" Elena sat on the side of the bed as Elijah took the other chair.

"Don't you?" Davina countered, turning to the brunette.

"Honestly," Elena ran her thumb over her stomach, "I don't think I know what normal is anymore."

"Normal is a matter of perspective," Elijah chuckled. Truth be told he wasn't too sure what constituted normal anymore. From his side of things his world had been turned upside down twice by three unexpected children. "Why are you hiding in an attic Davina?"

"Marcel brought me here after the Harvest," she shrugged, "he saved my life and he was going to get me out of town, but it got to dangerous."

"And then he discovered how powerful you are," Elena tucked her hair behind her ear.

"He's helping me," Davina shook her head, crossing her arms. There was something defensive in the squaring of her shoulders.

"Okay," Elena held up a hand, palm out, "it just sounds to me like you're being used. I haven't been in town that long but it's pretty clear that Marcel's got power; if he wanted to get you out of town he could have done it. And I know you haven't been outside but according to Rebekah he's got all of the witches under his control, and I have to assume it's because of you."

"I know when they use magic," Davina gripped her upper arms. "It pulls at me… I hate that feeling."

"So why not leave?"

"Someone could see me," Davina glared at the windows.

"Nobody saw me," Elena pointed out. "If the witches realize then they might start using magic again, but like you said it's only a matter of time."

"Running from the woman who walked headfirst to meet my brother?" Elijah turned to Elena. A small smirk lifted the edge of his lips.

"I had family and friends to protect," Elena shrugged. "People who would have gotten themselves killed if I tried to run or fight back. From the sounds of it Davina has nobody. Do you?" She turned to the younger girl and nodded when she shook her head. "And I highly doubt she wants to stay in a city that tried to kill her."

Elena chewed her bottom lip and tilted her head. Something wasn't quite sitting right about the information.

"Did everyone know?"

"Everyone but us," Davina nodded. "Bastianna called upon the four elements to bind our past and present future together. We were prepared so we knew what to expect; for weeks they told us that the magic in the knife they used to cut our palms would put us to sleep, and that later at the Reaping we'd be resurrected. They said we would wake up and be together and more powerful than ever. Everything went as expected until the blood sacrifice."

Davina's eyes took on a far off look as she thought back to the cemetery. Outside the wind howled battering the boarded windows.

"My friend Monique… her aunt tried to stop it, but we still didn't suspect," a lump formed in her throat.

Elena stood from the bed and crossed the room when Davina's eyes shimmered. She placed a hand on her shoulder and tilted her head. Her eyes widened when Davina's head fell forward against her stomach. Elena didn't think before wrapping her arms around the girl's shaking shoulders.

Her breath caught in her throat when a series of images flooded her mind. One moment she was in the attic and the next she was standing between towering tombs watching four girls kneel before an older woman. The first girl stood and walked forward with her palm outstretched and Elena held her breath. A silent scream bubbled up in her throat when the woman's serene smile turned feral and the knife slashed across the teenager's throat. Chaos erupted as the teenagers screamed for help. She wanted to move but her feet were firmly rooted to the floor.

She dropped back into the attic when vampires joined the fray and found Davina shaking in her arms. She smoothed down her hair and lifted her eyes to Elijah who had moved to stand behind her, but she didn't know why until he rubbed a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb.

Her eyes darted to the door when it swung inwards gently.

Davina lifted her head. She was about to raise her hand when Elena took her shoulder.

"It's okay," Elena looked down. "She's a friend."

Caroline held the sides of the door and looked from Elena and Davina to the positively grey Original.

"A friend who's starting to think she should have brought some blood."

**Author's Note:**

> It's official... I have impulse control issues. I can't keep myself from starting new stories. I promise though I will work on SAF this weekend. My goal is to have all ongoing stories updated with a new chapter over the next week. There is also another new one I want to start.
> 
> I'm thinking this is going to be 10-20 chapters... I also said that about Dealing with the Hybrids so...


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